Boy did you come to the right place, eterprincess! All peonies die back with cold weather and come back in the spring. The difference between herbaceous and tree is that the tree peonies don't die back to the ground and actually put out leaves and buds from the limbs from previous years as well as new sprouts from the ground every spring. Some tree peonies can get pretty tall and they generally have more dramatic colored blooms. You'll want to avoid cutting long stems from your tree peonies if you like bringing blooms inside because you'd effectively be pruning your tree peony, most people just float the tree blooms if they cut them at all. Most tree peonies are early- mid spring bloomers. Some varieties that come from lutea backgrounds have been known to have a very short flush of fall blooms, even. Kousa had one this year!! Very exciting for a peony to bloom in the fall!
Herbaceous peonies die all the way to the ground every winter and new shoots emerge every spring. There are thousands of varieties now and they bloom from very early spring through early summer, depending on the variety.
Itohs are hybrids between herbaceous and tree peonies. Some have more dramatic colors in the blooms like tree peonies but typically die back every winter like herbaceous. Some people say their Itohs don't die back all the way and put out new growth from the limbs, I have seen buds higher up on the lower stems of my Itohs but don't have any that act like trees, might be a zone thing.
Peonies range in price from just a couple of bucks/root to hundreds of dollars. I've heard the first Itohs on the market went for thousands!
You can get bagged peonies from the big box stores and most will grow fine but it'll normally take several years to get blooms. Most nurseries sell potted peonies in the spring that are already or are ready to bloom, those can be placed in a shadier than you'd normally put peonies spot for the summer, watered when they start to dry out, and planted in the fall. Or there are massive numbers of on-line nurseries that specialize in peonies that you can buy from, those roots are typically big enough to bloom 1st or 2nd spring after planting. I know there are a couple that are having sales now that have good reps, the link below is to Hidden Springs, their sale ends on either the 15th or 16 so need to act fast if you want to use them. Another that I like but that has had mixed reviews is Gilbert Wild, http://www.gilberthwild.com/PEONIES/products/30/ They also are having a sale, think the code is $cash$ to save $20 off of a $100 order. Not 100% sure on the code but it's in the Gilbert Wild Sale string that I updated a couple of days ago. They also ship free if your order is over $75 so you can get $100 dollars worth of peonies for $80 with free shipping, pretty good deal. They still have some pretty peonies, as does Hidden Springs. GW doesn't do Itohs, don't think I saw any left at HS either, Brooks Gardens and Swenson Gardens do though. I know one of them did a 20% off sale late fall last year, don't remember which. Think Adelmans did, too. One I used this year and was impressed with is Tree Peony Gardens, http://www.treepeonygarden.com/english/products/products-eng.htm Their roots were very reasonably priced and arrived healthy and larger and more developed than I expected. You do have to mail in a check to them rather than order online, a bit uncomfortable for a retailor you're not familiar with, huh? Solaris Farms had nice roots of all 3 types, http://www.solarisfarms.com/Peony%20Woody%20Hybrid%20Catalog.html
Sorry this has gotten so long, as you can tell I'm enthusiastic about peonies! Take a look at what's out there and come back and ask questions if you have any. The members of this forum are very knowledgeable and are willing to share their wisdom. Good luck and let us know what you decided to plant!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden Springs Peonies Last Chance Sale

Thanks, I just ordered the 5 peonies for $25 from GW, figured i would start that way and try considering I dont know which Peonies I will like lol.

Here's hoping my roots are as good as others were!

I've had good luck with Gilbert Wild peonies, hope you do, too! You'll have to post which varieties you get when your order comes in.

I am USDA Zone 7b 8b -- Olympia WA.

How about Pure Peonies ?

I just transplanted a Tibetan Tree Peony. It bloomed only once in 4 years. It was taking up a lot of garden real estate. I didn't know for sure what it was until I found the tag buried in the soil. I had to destroy a lot of root: It is/was anywhere from 40 to 10 years old based on when the gardeners who lived here before me planted it. It is in a better location . . . if it survives the damage. I will be nourishing it with worm products. Consider me a transplant from the Vermicomposting Forum.

From what I've read, only this morning, I think I'm equipped to grow tree peonies from seed: the seeds could be in the mason bee's refrigerator, for example.

I like especially a variety called Festiva Maxima which is pictured on this site. (as I recall ?) White flowers, pink center, fragrance. A dark blue variety would be interesting. Anyone had experience with the snowbabysmile site that sells seeds on ebay ?

I'd prefer to shop as locally as possible, but I haven't learned all the options and consequences yet.

Hence this post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pure Peonies website

I purchased from Pure Peonies last year and this. Their roots are about the same as Adelmans and others, good quality, never had one that was dried out. They have a pretty website, don't they? Love the pictures they post! I had some confusion with some auto-generated emails last summer, caused a bit of a panic on my part, but it looks like they have it fixed this year. I'd recommend them!
Another good one for pictures is Swenson's--they show buds, partly open blooms and then full blooms in sequence, get to see them in all stages!
I've seen the advertisements for the blue flowered peonies, as far as I know it's a myth. There are certainly some light purple ones and reds with bluish tints but no true blue peonies as far as I know.
Festiva Maxima is definitely a beautiful flower and smells good. I avoided it and others that needed to be staked for years, finally surrendered to doing the extra work--the flowers should be worth the effort!
As for growing tree peonies from seed--your current tree's seed should be fertile when it blooms again, hopefully it'll be happy in its new spot and give you pretty flowers in the spring. I had to look it up to make sure I knew what you were talking about and came across another old string in this forum, I'm going to reply to it to bring it back to the current page. Good luck in your propagation efforts!

Here is a link that might be useful: Swenson Gardens Peonies

I received my roots today and a bonus kentucky jazz day lily. I received:

Kathryn Fonteyn
Felix crousse
Minuet
Amabillis
Krinkled white