One of the main reasons for developing these plants was to transfer tree peony flowers onto a herbaceous plant, particularly colours which don't exist in herbaceous peonies. Most are in yellow shades because you can't otherwise get that on a herbaceous peony, but there are pinks and some interesting blends too.

Beyond that, I think the marketing people got to work to try and convince us that these rather expensive plants are better than other peonies in every way. Personally I think they are worse in a great many respects. Choose them if you want tree peony flowers on a herbaceous plant.

I'm not aware of a simple foolproof method to determine the age of a peony, grafted or otherwise. A two-year-old graft would be a small plant but potentially able to produce flowers, probably only one flower on a single stalk. At four years the plants would be larger, probably with several branches and so much better potential for flowers. But there really seems to be no substitute for getting a tree peony in the ground.

I agree with SnB in that respect that Itoh hybrids are only/mostly usefull if you want yellow flowers on a herbaceous plant. Otherwise, plant a tree peony and enjoy a 'true' thing.

I ordered 3 tree Chinese peonies from treepeonygarden.com
this fall, Qing Long Wo Fen Chi, Lan Bao Shi and Hua Hu
Die. I was very pleased w/ what I received. Qing Long
is on back order. Lan Bao Shi had 5 stems, Hua Hu Die
had 3 stems (4 if you count a small one). Both plants
have very extensive roots. The saleslady told me they are
about 2 year old graft, but they looked bigger than
I had expected. The roots were yellowish in color
so I assumed that they were grafted onto a tree peony
root stock rather than the dark black root of herbaceous
peony. I hope they will survive,(it's been raining
a lot), grow and flower in 2 years. I can't wait to see the
blossom!

From your comments, I guess tree peonies are nicer than
intersectionals. I'll look into adding some more
to my collection :)

Chinese peonies are usually not grafted.

"From your comments, I guess tree peonies are nicer than
intersectionals. "

That is not correct. They are different and one can't be considered as a substitute for another.
SnB and I were talking about yellow color ONLY, which is not available in herbaceous peonies (I'm not counting species).
If you want to have a yellow peony for cutting flowers, intersectional would be your best bet. I see no other reason to grow them as all other colors of tree peonies (except purple, which is not available in Itohs either) available in regular herbaceous peonies.

I'm in the "tree peonies are better than herbaceous in every way" camp, so I would also say that tree peonies are better than intersectionals in every way :) Anyway, you get the idea. If you like the herbaceous plants and want a particular flower then go for an intersectional. You might also find the foliage more attractive, being closer to tree peony foliage, and they are reputed to be very disease resistant.

First I have to say that the plants you received are probably growing on their own roots. Chinese tree peonies are generally not grafted. In some cases the Rock Type (Flare Peonies) will be grafted. I am not familiar with some of the cultivars that you listed but I think that Hua Hu Die(Colorful Butterfly) is a Flare Peony.

Qing Long Wo Fen Chi (Green Dragon in Pink Pond) and Lan Bao Shi (Blue Jewel Sapphire)sounds interesting. If you get bloom this spring I do hope you will share photos with us.

I can't agree that tree peonies are better than intersectionals. They are different and like comparing apples and oranges. One real advantage to intersectional peonies is the hardiness. I am fairly sure that the intersectionals will perform much better is very cold areas. Also, the leafage of one in particular, Bartzella has the best foliage of any peony that I have encountered.

I am not trying to be a salesman for intersectionals but they do seem to be nice. They are much more agressive in their growth habit and I believe that they need to be divided more often than herbaceous. If they are happy in their growing conditions they need to be divided every 2 years not 3-4 like herbaceous.

I have tried grafting of intersectional peonies. The only cultivar that I have tried this on is Garden Treasure and my success is only about 1/2 that of grafting tree peonies.

If you grow tree peonies and herbaceous peonies you should try your hand at hybridizing with the goal of developing an intersectional peony. The goal is attainable for the average gardener. I have one seedling that I continue to watch. It is a cross between Sea Shell and Reath's A-197. Since the pod parent is herbaceous you can tell from the very beginning if you have an intersectional cross, the leaves look more typical of a tree peony than a herbaceous peony whereas if the seed is a result of self pollenation the leafage will be typical of herbaceous.

I think another worthy goal would be to develop a true purple intersectional peony. I have tried to cross Miss America(a white herbaceous) with Shima Daijin (a true purple tree peony). It makes perfectly good sense that this would result in a nice purple. So far I have not gotten any seed to germinate from the cross that were intersectional. This particular cross may not be possible.

Just curious - for those who prefer tree peonies, is this based on first hand experience of growing both tree peonies and intersectionals?
Shrubs I know you've got tree peonies. I loved your "chicken feet" shot last year, lol. I find the photos of the intersectionals (not just the yellow ones) to be just gorgeous but would really like some "real world" feedback about them.

No, I haven't got any Itohs in my garden. Over here they have been first hard to find, and more recently very expensive. I just checked Kelways and they are offering Oriental Gold (Haung Jin Lun, I assume, although the colour is shown as a very deep yellow) as an intersectional for basically the same price as a good Japanese Tree Peony, but I don't think this is really an intersectional? The only other UK source I could find is still selling them for more than twice the price of a tree peony, which is better than last year.

So my opinion is based on a few I saw at an arboretum in Pennsylvania and my strong preference for tree peonies :)

Well, I just recently received my back order,
Qing Long Wo Fen Chi (Green Dragon in Pink Pond),
and now I am sure the first two I received were
grafted. Qing Long, however, was grown on its
own root, very healthy looking w/ 5 stems.

PeonyMan: I was given instruction not to let the
tree peonies flower this Spring. It suppose to give
the roots more time and energy to establish and to
have a strong growth vs. letting them flower and
struggle in years to come. I can't wait to see the flowers.
It will be hard to wait so long. So far I have been
very happy with the quality of the plant. I'll wait
until the plants flower to make more comment. I'll be
thrilled if the plants are true to name for the pictures
I have seem were beautiful!

I've never removed buds from a newly-planted tree peony. Maybe they like my soil? Maybe they establish over winter because my soil doesn't freeze a foot down? Anyway, they thrive even when allowed to flower.

P.S. The cynic in me says they don't want you to see the flowers until its too late to return any mistakes ;)

I know nothing about tree peonies.. I bought three about 3 years ago and one seems to have developed, what I call a sucker, which looks like a regular peony.
Is this because it was grafted and will revert to it's parent form?
What to do?

Thank you,