you need to knick the seeds, or scarify them. i use an emory board laid flat on the table. take seed between thumb and forefinger and rub back and forth until you see a bit of the white insides (about 50 times back and forth) then soak the seeds in water for several days, changing the water morning and night. they will begin to swell a bit. at that point, you can bag them, in soil. put them in your veggie crisper in the bottom of the fridge until april.

do this with cannas too, except do not put them in the fridge. also, cannas take several weeks in water to sprout.

BTW: the peony seeds will not sprout in water, at least i have not had them do so. they will swell nicely.

others may disagree.

good luck.

Thank you so much!! I will try that!

I grow and breed many peonies and the method of putting them in moist peat in a sealed plastic bag works perfectly.
Once they are in the moist peat keep checking for the radicle and remove any seeds that rot. Peony seeds germinate at different rates so transfer the ones that do to another moist peat bag and put them in the fridge until the first leaf emerges.
Remember that peonies do not come "true" from seed so you will not get a specific variety, you will get a suprise peony, I have seeds from a white single that produced a plant with pink double flowers. So who knows what you will get , it could be a winner.

Just stick them into the ground, have a lot of organic matter to make it a better environment, and as long as you have fresh seeds, they should do fine.

Just make sure you don't have chipmunk, mice, or other rodent problems or else your seeds will just get eaten.

Here is a link that might be useful: pictures of peony seedlings

wrong picture, here's the right one

Here is a link that might be useful: right one