Does anyone have peonies that grow from roots with no visible eyes? Coral Charm is definitely a candidate! Ellen Cowley is another one. Are there others out there? I would really like to compile a list of peonies that can grow from root pieces with no eyes. In fall 2013, I tried grafting tree peonies. All my grafts failed but evidently the rootstocks did not die because this spring, I see a young plant growing in the area where I had planted the grafts. If I remember correctly, the root I used was from Joker peony. If I did not know about adventitious roots, i may very well believe that the Joker has played a joke on me.

That's funny about the Joker roots! Glad to hear it might be adventitious, kinda makes sense now. The prices dropped pretty dramatically for that one over the last few years, ease of propagation might just be why.
I think Circus Circus might be, too. I had mine in a spot where wild roses were taking over so I moved it several years ago. I had a few plants pop up in that spot a few years later, one of which I left in place long enough to bloom. Sure enough, Circus Circus. I don't think I left enough of the original root to have had eyes but since I was fighting off wild roses to get to it I might've.

Pink Derby also will grow from a blind root. It is a wonderful peony.

Good to know, LG! I have a coral NOID that absolutely does the same. Trying to ID it this year, replanted a division in the same bed with the majority of my corals to see if I can get a match. It was sold to me as Lovely Rose but I KNOW that's wrong....

I remember reading about those somewhere lately, not sure if it was THE AMERICAN HYBRID PEONY or something else, but the name Grace Root pops out on subject for sure.

We really do need to make a list. 'Coral Charm' will also come up from a root without an eye.

I think my Pink Luau maybe another. I have found eyes on the tuberous root itself, not on the crown. I planted some roots the broke off the divisions last year. Will find out if I get any plants from them next year.

Here is a
List from Allan Rogers' book, 'Peonies' . Chapter 6:

Thank you LG for that list;. I have quite a few on that list as I am a Saunders fan.

So Karen, do you want to start a sticky note for the forum about those peonies from this list and those that we've found by experience that have Adventitious Roots? I think that's excellent info for peony enthusiasts to have and a resource not available anywhere else that I know of as a building list.....and if it's a sticky we can just add to it as we find new ones without searching for this string later on.

I'm right there with you on the Saunders bandwagon, a pretty significant portion of my singles are Saunders intros....

I think that is an excellent idea! I completely support it. It is info that many can use to plan the plantings as well as make additional plants should they like the peony alot.

I think it would be a valuable resource for peony lovers.
I did dig up and split three Itohs this Fall. I will be watching the empty holes to see if anything sprouts from the blind root pieces left behind.
I had to use a hammer and chisel to split them.

I used a coping saw on mine. Did you lose many roots with the hammer/chisel approach, LG? That would go a lot faster than the saw....

Liz, I saw the owners of a nursery use an iron wedge like one used to split firewood to split their Itoh peonies. That's where I got the idea to use a hammer and chisel. That chisel has a hand protector, too.
I did not lose many roots at all, and could avoid most of the eyes. I recommend this method.

Burma Ruby and Flame mentioned in article by George Hernandez, Klehm Nursery APS handbook.

Mags, do you remember who told you to dig and divide Itoh's often? Something about needing chainsaw if you waited to long?

I was actually Roger Anderson. He had told me once that 'Bartzella' was so tough to divide that people would take the root to him after it seemed to either max out on blooms or start to have fewer (this was quite a few years ago now). He would separate it using a chainsaw. Payment for services would be one division of the Bartzella he divided.

On adventitious (sp) roots I had Coral Sunset die one year, or so I thought. So did several other peonies due to freeze/thaw cycle in spring. I was pretty bummed. Then two springs later, in the middle of the rhubarb that I had planted in that area up came two peonies from wayyyyy down deep. Coral Sunset I assume as I didn't have anything else there.

Thanks so much for the list. I printed it. I have several. Also am interested in dividing up some Itoh's but two are still recovering from that horrible spring and I don't want to set them back even further. I am tempted to see if I can dig on one side of a few of the peonies at ABG (Alaska Botanical Garden) to cut off a root, say like Burma Beauty to see if it will grow. We (ABG) could then sell those plants rather than having to buy new.

I second what Mary said about her Coral Sunset. I had to dig up a Coral Sunset for gift this past fall. There was a bunch of broken roots from this dug up. I planted these broken roots and they have come up this year. So now I have about 6 Coral Sunset plants from these broken roots. Just wanted to share this experience if anyone wants to propagate more of Coral Sunset peony. I will upload some pics later.

Here is a broken CS root that developed eyes and starting to sprout


A close up of the eyes


Some have grown a couple inches

Awesome! I have a spot of 'Coral Charm' that I dig a plant out of every 3 years. I dug one this Fall and it already has a stem up.