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Anyone receive their ordered peonies yet?

KarenPA_6b
10 years ago

I just wonder if anyone receive the peonies they ordered and whether they are happy with the plants they receive.

Comments (109)

  • Nette10
    10 years ago

    Here's one from Parkland Perennials!

  • Nette10
    10 years ago

    Here's a one from Blossom Hill!

  • Nette10
    10 years ago

    Here's one from Peonies From The Field!

  • Nette10
    10 years ago

    Unfortunately I didn't take picts from my order from Ferncliffe but the Tonge of Yellow Itoh was pretty big. Adelman Peonies sent standard size roots, IMO and I got dinged large custom duties on top of the phyto fee. Still happy though as I ordered a few Itohs not offered here in Canada.

  • Nancy
    10 years ago

    These roots are so amazing! I'm used to buying from box stores, and even if you are lucky enough find a root with 3 or 4 eyes, the root itself is a fraction of the size of these, & still won't bloom at least 2, usually 3 years. I've learned patience. I've been fortunate & only 1 was the wrong peony, but this is definitely a case of you get what you pay for! Hope everyone posts their pictures next year.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Yeah, I think overall the Canadian growers did amazingly well this year! Lucky you guys, we'll be watching for pictures because I know those massive roots are going to translate to huge shrubs with 1st year blooms!

    Pwin, to me the Battleflag looked like an incredibly woody broccoli head!

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Got an order in from the Peony Farm today (ilovepeonies.com) Kinda disappointed because there was a substitution made that I wasn't expecting. Ordered Bouquet Perfect and they sent June Rose instead, still a pretty peony but not the color that attracted me to Bouquet Perfect. But I guess if that's the only disappointment I have with this season's roots I'm doing okay!
    Got a package slip today, too--order from Swenson's is at the post office. Still have Paradise Gardens, Aspelund and a 2nd late order that I put in with A & D to come. Aspelund is supposed to be in the mail, maybe I have 2 packages at the post office (hope!).
    Aspelund had Silver Dawn Mix, hoping to get a yellow shrub but it's the luck of the draw. Their site was the only one I found offering it this year and really wanted it after seeing Illinoisdoglover's pics last spring!

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I am sorry to hear that Liz. I hope June Rose will turn out to your liking when you see the flower in person. I did not realize that you order from so many different vendors. I was thinking of getting Silver Dawn Mix too but I refrained due to the fact that you don't know what color you are going to get. I too hope that you get a yellow because that appears to be the nicest from Illinoisdoblover's pics.

  • joopster
    10 years ago

    My Michigan Bulb ordered came. The root is pretty sad looking with no eyes. Looks just like the one that you can get at Home Depot, but just wet. Will post picture soon.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Kousa, I wrote to Peony Farm and sent a gentle complaint, they've always been very good in the past and didn't want to be mean. They immediately sent a reply letting me know the roots for Beautiful Bouquet were bad and apologized for substituting without letting me know. They offered to refund the peony but it's not necessary. Wouldn't have complained in the first place if I'd known what was going on.

    Joopster, my first tree peonies were from Michigan Bulb and I remember they were pretty sad looking to begin with, too. They've been in place now for 5 years and the largest is appx 5'X5' now, had lots of flowers the last 3 years. Yours will catch up, too. And if they don't, Michigan Bulb will replace them, no questions. If any of the nice, healthy looking, big roots we're getting from the growers don't survive we're just out of luck.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I am sorry to hear that Joopster. It is kinda hit or miss with these companies. Sometimes their stuffs can be amazing and other times suck. i bought a bunch of stuffs from them this past spring. None of the bulbs they sent me were good. The two dahlias died and the gladiolus were really small so that of the 20 bulbs, only 5 bloomed. I have better luck with their plants. The roses and fruit treesI ordered from them were pretty nice and grew very well. I would not buy bulbs from them again. Karen

  • Nette10
    10 years ago

    Second order from Ferncliffe has arrived.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Nice Nettie! I got Mr Ed last year but it hasn't bloomed yet. Maybe we'll both get blooms next spring!!

    My last orders are on the way, should be here by Friday. Then no more planting and a whole winter of waiting.....

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I am still waiting on my orders from the Ebay vendor that sells rockii peonies and one from Old House Garden Bulbs. Overall, I am very impressed with everyone's peonies roots. They look super in size and fresh.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    I just got my order from Paradise Peonies today, it was filled by Oakes Daylilies. Didn't even know they sold peonies, not sure what to think of that one. Only 4 roots and they looked nice and healthy, though.

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    I've received peony roots from Gilbert Wild today.
    They are pretty impressive - 3 of 4 roots have more than 10+ large eyes.
    Carol had 12, White Dream 16, Okinawa 10, Krinkled White 5 big eyes!
    I really really hope they survive well here, South Texas...

    This post was edited by mariandmary on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 23:00

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    They look awesome, marian. I hope they do well for you too. How far south in Texas are you? Some peonies need a certain amount of chilling hours for the flowers to bloom. Good luck.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Wow, I've never seen roots that big from GW before and I've ordered from them several times! This has been the fall for big, big roots, mainly from the Canadian growers but our US ones have sent some pretty impressive ones, too.

    My best friend in East Texas (zone 7A) says she has peonies growing now, never saw them there when I was growing up. I saw a post somewhere, don't remember if it was in this forum or not, that a lady in the way south was able to grow double peonies and mid-late bloomers, said she dumped ice on her roots several times during the coldest days of her winter. She claimed it worked like a charm. We don't have that problem here.....too much ice most winters and well into spring!

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Got my 2nd order from A&D yesterday, planted them and the Paradise Peonies order from a few days ago this morning. Still waiting on an order from Aspelund and my teenie tiny tree peonies from KvB and I'll be done for the year.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I received my rockii tree peonies from the Ebay vendor, sexy bloomers. They are not as described. What I received was a stem of scion grafted onto a seedling root stock. The grafted plants look like they were grown for about a year. I am so disappointed and upset. And yet on the sales page, it was listed for 3-5 years tree plants with pictures showing these huge plants with extensive roots and 3-4 stems per plant. I would be happy even if my plants have only 2 stems, Maifleur was right. I should not believe everything that was written even with Ebay Buyer Protection esp. if the products are from China. This has been a really unpleasant and negative shopping experience for me. I would definitely refrain from buying any more plants from Ebay.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    I'm sorry to hear that, Kousa. Do they look healthy enough to survive the winter? I hope you can eventually have the nice tree peonies you wanted, even if it takes a few years more.
    Did you end up getting the Rockii tree peony from the hybridizer, too? I can't remember the name but we talked about him here early in the season, Harold something? If so, how did that one look? I think you talked about getting the order in from him but it must be in a different thread, couldn't find it here.

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    Thank you for the suggestions. This is the first time I grow peonies. I did know that a peony was not a good candidate for Southern gardens but I was desperate to see the gigantic beautiful flowers here.

    Yes I would definitely try the ice thing. I am doing some experiments now with peonies and planning to post them later for southern & container gardeners if I have significant results. I have purchased peony roots from online nursery stores, ebay sellers, and individual gardeners like us. The roots I purchased include 2-3 year-old ones, divisions of a super mature plant, or even undivided mature root which needed to be cut to be potted in a 18-inch container. Those roots from Gilbert Wild were potted in 2 gallon pots. They look okay (actually roots are not in big sizes though they have many eyes) and I would be able to do some experiments related to the low winter temperature. In the near future, I would need to place them in bigger containers.

    As I wanted to see blooms, I purchased early bloomers such as festiva maxima, and coral charm. Gilbert Wild's catalog has been reduced, so I did not have many choice with less popular peonies. Anyway, I am sooooooooo satisfied with my first transaction with Gilbert Wild!!!

    *the picture was taken to see how the eyes were positioned. After this picture, they were covered with soil as the instruction says peonies in south sould be covered by soil in the ground level...

    This post was edited by mariandmary on Sun, Oct 13, 13 at 23:10

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    Kousa, I made several purchases from the ebay and realized the quality is really hard to expect.. My coral charm plant which I bought from an ebayseller in August had a root thinner than my small fingers and no visible eye. But surprisingly it survived really well (it recovered its green foliage and maintained it over a month here, under the scorching Sun!

    My etched salmon from an ebayer had sort of root but eyes are tiny and have rotten color.. I have attached picture of the eyes..

    This post was edited by mariandmary on Sun, Oct 13, 13 at 13:30

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I was hoping to see flowers from my rockii tree peonies purchase next spring but from the look of things, I don't expect to see any flowers until maybe 2 or 3 years from now if I am lucky. i hope the scions of these grafts make it. If they die, I am out of luck as I will be left with two rootstocks. Liz, yes I did receive a Joseph Rock peony tree from Mr. Entsminger. It is a division of a mother plant not a grafted plant. That is another issue. See my tree peony help post. So far this tree seems to be ok as some of the buds are still green. I canceled my order of Japanese peonies trees with KVBorgendien because they kept bumping the delivery dates till later. Please allow me to vent some of my frustrations. Thank you for listening.

    Marian, I am sorry you have to hear about my frustrations. But if you know or can find a good source for tree peonies, you should consider growing tree peonies for your zone as they do not require chilling time for flower buds to develop.

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    Kousa,

    I will try tree peonies, but not this year.. Somehow.. I am less attracted by tree peonies. I grew up in Asian counties, so either tree or itoh peony flowers are just so so to me. I might want to have some later in my life when I miss my childhood.

    In addition, I have 16 new pots of peonies to take care of, as a result of my exploration on different sources of peony roots. Buying through Ebay was just like a gambling. I do not think Ebay tries to protect its users. Merchants in China are not reliable from my viewpoint, not simply because they want to mock you, but because they have little understanding about consumer right, customer service, etc though it is getting better..

    This post was edited by mariandmary on Sun, Oct 13, 13 at 18:08

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Hey Mariandmary, someone posted a link to this blog last spring I think, she's not as far south as you but there might be some good info there.

    Kousa, I'm sorry this was a poor year for acquiring tree peonies for you. Don't know if you're done purchasing for the year but Chateau CarMarron ships through the end of the year, they have Rockii trees. And Vermont Wildflower Farm has their pre-season (spring) sale going on now, think they had 5-7 different tree peonies, several Itohs and a few herbaceous for a decent price. We have such crazy springs here it's chancy planting then but they have a great guarantee on their plants.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Southern Peony Blog

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    Thanks Liz!
    The link would be really helpful!! I like the blogger's massive work:)

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I think I'd better not get any more Liz. I believe that I have quite a bit to take care of at this time as some will probably require a lot of TLC. My comfort is knowing that I will have a great probability of blooms from herbaceous peonies next spring. I can't wait to see your pictures as well as others who acquire quite a number of peonies this season.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I also want to add:

    Many thanks to all who posted pictures of the plants they received this year. It is great to know what a nice root/plant looks like. I am sure this will be very helpful to those who are starting out.

    Best of luck to everyone and may we all get lots of blooms next spring! Karen

  • maifleur01
    10 years ago

    If you have not planted the tp's from Sexy Bloomers you need to plant so that the stem is under the soil. This way the roots will come from the stem and the nurse root will provide nutrients and not stems.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Maifleur, I have them potted in grow bags. Do I still need to cover the entire stems with soil? The vendor completely misrepresented the plants. She offered to waive the shipping charges so I decided just to keep them. On one plant, there is a 4 inch scion grafted including the diagonal side cut. The second plant has an 8 in scion grafted. Thank you in advance.
    Karen

  • nmay
    10 years ago

    Those are some great looking roots; I hope they grow well for all of you. These posts have also had some influence on how I will order in the future, so thank you all for that.

    Here is a monster intersectional root that I received from Select Plus International Nursery in Quebec, Canada. It had 10+ eyes.

  • pwin
    10 years ago

    That's an impressive root, nmay. I've only heard of people receiving tiny roots from them.

    Kousa, I think you're lucky to have received your tree peonies this year. I've read many comments from people who've ordered from Sexy B and not received their trees the year they were ordered (even the year after). Sexy B keeps having to change their suppliers. Refunding your shipping fee is decent of them. I hope your trees survive.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    pwin, I was not aware of Sexy B's history. On Ebay, she has a high positive feedback rating as a seller though the ebay name is not Sexy Bloomer. It was not like she agreed to waive my shipping charges after the first complaint. It took a lot of back and forth, At one point it got a bit unpleasant for me. I think if I did not have the Ebay Buyer Protection, she would not refund any money to me. Overall, it was a very negative and unpleasant shopping experience. Wow, I am sorry to hear about others terrible time with this seller. And I thought mine was bad.

  • maifleur01
    10 years ago

    Kousa, I would cover both stems half of their length. The shorter one is probably one of the dwarf tp's which is why the stem is so short. I have found that if the end bud is completely covered the plant dies.

    Many intersectional are rapid growers and will grow rapidly. The really small sized roots are from tissue culture's. Many but not all intersectional's grow so rapidly that they will need to be divided with a power saw.

  • amhkgn
    10 years ago

    My peonies from OHG and Fina Gardens arrived today. I'm so excited and I'm looking forward to gettting these tubers planted.

    The tubers from Fina Gardens were massive, the biggest I have ever seen compared to peonies that I have ordered from other companies in the past.

    Here is a comparison of Jacorma from Fina Gardens compared to the OHG tubers. I'm happy with both products. OHG sent a gift of red spider lilies and double pink poppy seeds, with a lovely apology note about the size of their tubers, Apparently, I got their last 2 Mrs. FDR.

    The peonies from OHG have at least 4-6 eyes, and should do well. I can't wait till next spring, and hopefully I'll get some blooms from these new plants. I really looking forward to seeing Mrs. FDR bloom, I've wanted this plant for years.

    I will definitely be ordering from both of these companies again. I love the old fashioned, double blooming scented peonies.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Those are some really nice roots, amhkgn. That Jacorma peony root is huge! Are there any big eyes on them? The big eyes have a greater probability of forming flower than the small ones. May I ask what you ordered from OHG? I would love to see flowers on my Mrs FDR next spring as it not bloom this past spring.

  • amhkgn
    10 years ago

    Hi kousa,

    From OHG I got 2 Mrs. FDR, Hermione, and Phillip Riviore. The tubers were small, but they had 4-6 eyes per tuber.

    The Fina Gardens tubers had 10-12 eyes on the 2 that I unpacked. I haven't unpacked the rest of them yet, but I'll let you know about those as well.

  • stevelau1911
    10 years ago

    I just picked these up at $60 a piece. They are Takara and Misaka

    Monrovia itohs do cost a lot, but the tubers basically take up the whole pot, and I was able to split off quite a bit of pieces from these as I have plenty of herbaceous roots to graft the woody sections onto.

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    That is awesome. I have been looking for Mikasa since I have learned of it 2 years ago. Where did you buy it?

  • stevelau1911
    10 years ago

    I just bought it at my local gardening center and got a deal for 25% off both of them so I went with it.

    If every division takes, I should have around 60 of them alive next year since most of them are grafted, and 2 huge flowering plants off of each one of these.

    I'm assuming that itohs can be grafted onto herbaceous roots.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Holy Cow Stevelau, that's a lot of peonies!!! Hope all of them make it, that'll be an amazing field of blooms!!

  • stevelau1911
    10 years ago

    I've gotten 1 itoh peony bud to take from a broken off bud which turned into a nice small plant, rooting out by itself so I'm guessing if buds with a bit of cambium layer attached are grafted onto herbaceous roots, and they are compatible, I should be getting some amazing results.

  • lizbest1
    10 years ago

    Please post pictures of your successes for the rest of us to drool over, Steve! That is going to be truly amazing when all of those start to bloom.

  • stevelau1911
    10 years ago

    Sure.

    I believe that the 4 big pieces should flower right away in 2014, but the smaller grafted pieces shouldn't get to blooming size until 2015 or 2016 simply because the scion material is too small to generate much in one year.

    Whenever you have a tiny eye with little grafting material, it simply can't use up all the starches in a fairly large nurse root so you will still end up with tiny plants, but a 1 eye division turns into a 5-10 eyes on the following year, then we are are getting serious.

    I think itohs should do well grafted onto herbaceous roots since it's even closer related than the tree peonies.

    I'll likely get updates on my blog.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Steve's blog

  • joopster
    10 years ago

    I'm still waiting for my 3 Sorbet roots from Michigan Bulb. We are in the 5th night of freeze here in Chicago. I really hope they come soon.

    I also have 3 peony plants sitting in 3 gal pots above ground. I really need to put in the ground this weekend. I hope it still ok.

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    My little etched salmon from ebay have been doing amazing!
    I knew I should not disturb the plants but I was so curious... and these were the smallest and worst ones among the roots I have potted/planted this year.

  • mariandmary
    10 years ago

    Surprisingly, one has produced 3 more visible eyes during a month!

  • KarenPA_6b
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    They look great! I believe those big eyes should give you some blooms next year.

  • stevelau1911
    10 years ago

    As long as they have callus tissue with enough auxins, even with no eyes, they should have the ability to produce new eyes through their dormancy period.

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