I am considering growing several dwarf peonies in the future. Many moons ago, while visiting, I spotted a plant which was a little over a foot tall with red flowers. I am pretty sure this was a peony but the owner of the house could not give me any information since they were not gardeners -- the plant was there when they purchased the house. The peonies would have to do well in zone 2b. I have several of the common taller types of peonies but would like to try adding something different that doesn't require staking. Hoping someone can provide some suggestions on dwarf peonies that have been successful for them in colder climes.

Tigerpaws, I found that lactiflora peonies generally grow better than hybrids in cold climates. Our garden is in zone 3a and I am sure that peonies which thrive here would do well in your garden also. My small peonies are higher than 12" but still can be called dwarf. Hybrids Little Red Gem, Mollis, Fernleaf Hybrids (from Adelman), species P. tenuifolia are doing well here in zone 3a. Since I ran out of space in the garden I decided to add more dwarf peonies and I planted Rosedale (hybrid), Sweetie (lactiflora). When I searched for dwarf peonies I made a list, so you can look and choose what you like: Chamaelion (20"), Happy (15"), Lavender Baby (16"), Little Corporal (20"), Ma petite Cherie (20"), Pink Pearl (20"), Royal Tot (16"), Squirt (15"), Thumbelina (15"), Tinkerbelle (12"), Toy Delight (20").

Thank you Anyagoro your list is most helpful and it is good to be able to receive advice from knowledgeable people. I'm really impressed with three in particular: Lavender Baby, Ma Petite Cherie and Rosedale. I agree that they should do well in my zone as there is not that much of a temperature difference between 3a and 2b. Now I wish it wasn't too late for me to order for this year. The ground is already frozen solid.

A tea kettle of hot water thaws the soil so that I can plant late arriving peony roots. A shorter one that I planted this year is PALADIN.
There was a series of dwarf peonies that came out a few years ago.
They had names like London, Oslo,…..after cities.

The dwarf ones sometimes are called patio peonies.
Rona and Home Depot and maybe Lowe's carried them in the spring.

Hi tigerpaws - great you want to plant more peonies Doubt very much you can get any now as the best time to plant is in the Fall and that is when peony retailers ship. You can get potted ones in the Spring or peonies warehoused over the winter but I don't recommend those!
Ma Petite Cherie is a great one - around the 24" per regn. here. Some other shorter cvs that do very well in my central Ontario garden are Avalon, Cutie, Dancing Butterflies, Early Scout, Earlybird, Eliza Lundy, Fairy Princess, Halcyon, Little Red Gem, Mandarin's Coat, Nice Gal, species peony anomala, caucasica, mascula, tenuifolia, and veitchii, Petite Elegance, Rose Crystal, Silly Sally, Sunlight, Sweetie, Thumbelina, Tranquil Dove and Vanilla One Scoop!
You should have time this winter to put together a good shopping list

Caroline, I looked up the Paladin. Beautiful red color but I prefer to go with shorter varieties. The peonies that I presently have all grew exceptionally tall this year as we were having rain every second day hence my desire to try dwarfish varieties.

Wow Val, you gave me a lot of suggestions. Now my work is cut out for me to look up each and every one to choose which would be preferred.

Thank you ladies.

One more almost dwarf peony - Fairy Princess (20").

Maybe search on Rock Garden peonies?
One called Laddie is about 12 to 14 inch…..think maybe Adelman has it?

CarolineScott said: Maybe search on Rock Garden peonies?
One called Laddie is about 12 to 14 inch…..think maybe Adelman has it?

Caroline that is a pretty one. Nice bright red color if going by the images and just the right height. I tried finding it on Adelman's by using the search button on their site but nothing came up. That company is in the USA and they probably would not send roots to Canada.
I have been searching sites that have rock garden varieties and have found a few that would be suitable for my garden.

Most of the companies do not have their 2023 catalogues up yet.
Adelman s does ship to Canada but you need to pay for a phyto sanitary certificate which is about $100. And shipping is expensive too. And there is exchange on the money plus they charge duty.
And don't order at this time of year as they sit waiting for Customs processing.
Many companies do not sell every peony variety every year.
Some appear to offer different ones in alternate years.

Are you a member of the Canadian Peony Society tigerpaws? There may be some members that would love to put in a group order to one of the US peony retailers then you would all share the phyto fee - though there would be some extra shipping costs from a central Ontario receiving address to yours.

No Valerie I am not a member. I was not aware there was a society. Putting in a group order and splitting cost of the phytosanitary certificate fee is much more acceptable. The fee of $100.00 if one was ordering just one peony on their own is a little steep and add postage and handling to that -- OUCH! I will be searching out the society on the net and see what it takes to join. Thanks for the heads up.