The last couple of days have been much cooler than normal here in CO, in the high 40's to low 50's at night and not above 70 during the day at my house here in the boonies. While that is bad for my tomatoes, signaling the end of the season soon with not a single one ripe yet, it also says the start of peony root arrivals isn't too far off!
I'd like to propose a different method of documenting roots this year to make it easier for peony gardeners to judge the merits of the individual growers. I put forward that the first person who gets a box from a grower start a new thread titled with the seller name and Fall 2015 Roots--example: A & D Fall 2015 Roots. I suggest that everyone who gets deliveries from that grower post pictures to that thread; maybe we can even continue the individual reporting into first year blooms! What do you all think of the idea? Please speak up if anyone thinks this is inappropriate; we can agree not to start a thread with anything negative if anyone thinks it would be an issue.
I'm getting roots from A & D, Adelman Peony Garden, Fina Gardens, Gilbert Wild, Hidden Gardens, Hollingsworth, La Pivoinerie D'Aoust (Canada) and Parkland (Canada) this fall so really have no fears of having a totally negative or even blah review. The only one I haven't ordered from before is La Pivoinerie D'Aoust but feel pretty good about it specifically because of pictures of roots from prior years posted in this forum.
I probably won't be the first to get roots this fall, my zone puts me in the mid-shipping range for peony growers, but I promise to take the time to photograph and post pictures of the roots as they come in regardless of whether we put them all together in a single string or break them out. Opinions, anyone?

I am more for taking pictures of new ones, and just mentioning who they came from.
In other words just have one thread titled New Roots 2015.
We can all draw our own conclusions from the pictures,--- without being negative about any
one supplier.

I can't wait to see a Melissa (am unfamiliar with it), because I love Lemon Chiffon for it's huge yellow flowers.

Melissa is really pretty in the pictures, I think MagnoliaLover wrote that it isn't in production yet. Hopefully it will be soon!

I am ordering only from 3 vendors this year and one of them is Bannister Gardens which is closing. I agree with Caroline's suggestion, having just one thread showing pics of roots from each vendor. I would be more interested to know which vendors' roots produce blooms the following spring as well as which ones have the healthiest growths.

I ordered from Bannisters this fall, too--don't know how I left them off of my list. The lady I talked to before I placed my order said they might end up being open another year depending on how many roots are left after the giant sale this fall.
I'm good with either one! I'll keep my list of new peonies handy next spring so that I can make sure to link the blooms back to the roots string. I divided my flower pics up this spring by month as they started coming up and budding and then a single folder for all of the blooms. Think I'll have to start my 2016 garden pics with a folder for new this fall roots. I didn't do any root pictures last fall, don't remember why. Must've been a busy time at work. I've already scheduled myself for 3 and 4 day weekends every week this fall!
So the first person to get the first box of roots--can you please start a string for 2015 roots? Does everyone want to put just pictures of roots then any blooms from those specific plants in one thread? Or do you want to track buds or initial growth, too?

I wonder if we could picture the roots this fall, and then edit those posts next year to include the flowers if any flower next year?

Can you add pictures when you edit; I didn't think you could. I have orders from three vendors. I keep my pictures in folders by year-month-day. I was keeping peony pics in separate folders for a while and could do so again. I keep track of first growth, first bloom also in my database. Then I run a report that is columnar and shows the peony, growth date, bloom week, bloom date.

I am good with what everyone decides. I think it is going to be a lot of fun comparing roots, growths, and blooms from our new purchases. I am very excited already. I received email from Cricket Hill Garden yesterday in which they said that they have already begun digging roots. I often wonder whether peony roots planted early like around Labor Day for my area get a headstart on growths and have better probability of blooming the following spring. The reason that I say this is that I notice feeder roots growing on some of my peonies by mid Sept. Wonder if anyone has thoughts or observation of this?

I actually got a bit worried about several that I planted fairly early last fall. We had a bit of colder weather then it warmed up again for around a month. I had significant growth on around 5 or 6 new peonies before it finally got cold again and they died back. All of them survived the winter and grew this spring, I don't think any flowered, though, but neither did a significant number of the newer ones.

You'd think that if you planted them late enough that you don't get stems growing but well before the ground freezes it'd have to give them a better chance of settling in well overwinter.


I added the photo in edit after I finished my first post so yes, it'll let you. Think it's a good idea to edit the root pics with flower pics, will probably have to manually put in the date, though.

I started a spreadsheet of my peonies this spring, Mary Stella, but it got away from me pretty quickly! Meant to record how many blooms each plant had so I can track how fast they increase. I still have all of my pics but didn't count blooms. I can add some of the info over the winter, if I catch up maybe I'll have a better chance of getting it all documented next spring! I can always hope, anyway, right?

Have you ordered from Cricket Hill before, Karen? I've looked at their website several times, they have some beautiful pictures but that's one I've never ordered from. Most of my ordering this year came about when I did searches for those peonies still on my "Wanted" list.

When Mother Nature plays such tricks on plants like that, having a cold snap and then a warm spell, it is no wonder the plants get confused. Though the weather is so unpredictable, I don't think my area has a long enough warm spell to mislead plants to grow prematurely in the fall. But that is definitely an issue. Thank you for bringing this up.

No, I have not ordered plants from Cricket Hill before but I did order some peony grow bags from them 2 years ago. Their prices are high. I believe Annette bought from them before and she said their tree peonies are very good. Ever since Annette mentioned Coral Terrace tree peony, I have been eyeing that one for awhile. As of now, I don't have a good enough spot for it. I need to find a good place for it because it is so beautiful!

That's the problem with a peony addiction--there's always another beautiful one out there to acquire! I had to look it up and you're right, it's gorgeous!

I love your idea Liz, What better way to plan a purchase than to see what the vendors are selling and not just looking at stock photos. I'm on board and would be happy with one or several threads. I think this should be implemented in the daylily and iris forums also. Maybe we should start a forum just for our thoughts, photos, and evaluations on all the plant companies we buy from. Then as Caroline said we can draw our own conclusion on what companies we'd like to do business with.

I got my shipment today - have not opened it yet. I guess tomorrow is planting time...So, should we start one thread or multiple ones for each of vendor?

Alex! Can I ask where you are located that you receive your roots so early?

That's exciting, Alex! Looking forward to seeing what you got! I think the general opinion is put them all in one string and we'll go back and post bloom pics to go with the root pics next spring.

Hi Kousa,

Thanks! I am in Toronto and got roots from Parkland Perennials - not sure how wise to plant them right away though - still rather hot in Toronto this year...But I guess to procrastinate is even worse.

Hi Liz,

Sure, will do it tomorrow. Wow - it looks like I am the first one

You sure are, Alex! I went back through last fall's posts and the first I saw was one of mine--Gilbert Wild and Swenson's delivered on 10 Sept. I know I wasn't the first to get peonies last year since we're listed as zone 5, just didn't see where anyone posted before then.
I too ordered from Parkland this year! Got several from them last year and was happy with the quality. I certainly appreciate the growers from Canada that don't charge an outrageous amount for the ag inspection fee. Are there any US sites that are reasonable with shipping to Canada?