I know fall is the BEST time to transplant tree peony, but I'm planning to move this year, and would love to take it with me. It's pretty established 5 yrs or more.
Can I dig and put into a pot this time of year?
Zn 8 , and we just had several nights of 25f.
thanks.

You should do it as soon as possible before it starts growing and leafs out. If it was my tree and the ground is workable, I would do it today. Will you be transplanting it with the rootball and soil attached or will you transplanting it as a bareroot?

jmillerent, Your location, I would wait until the ground is a little warmer and the night temps are above freezing.

I notice our ground is pretty cold in Z8 with temps dropping into the low
20s. Here we should get some rain shortly and it will be time to plant.

Jmillerrent,
You say zone 8. Could you add the state?
I'm in 7a, in TN, and wouldn't hesitate to move one now. So if you are in the Southeast, go for it. Try to keep the rootball all together. I would try to put it in the smallest pot you can without sacrificing any roots. If you have to add any soil to the pot make sure it doesn't have added fertilizer, and make it very free draining with added perlite. You have to make sure that the roots won't rot in the pot.

You need to remove the blooms this Spring so that the plant will concentrate on growing roots and leaves. Keep it out of the sun, too. You don't want it to break dormancy early because you moved it. It will be much warmer now that it's in a pot above the soil.

You just want to keep it stable until you move to your new home. If you've looked at the prices of a 5 year old woody peony, you will know that it is worth this effort.

Share a photo of the blooms, if you could.

Mieko2, I'm in NW Oregon. We just had an unseasonable cold spell, that just today broke to our more normal 40-50 degree clouds and rain. I'm guessing that 5 nights of sub freezing temps may slow down the dormancy break temporarily.

jmillerent, I'd do as Mieko suggests and dig it soon! If you can't plant it right away just keep it in a partly shady spot where it'll stay cooler in the afternoon but still get morning sun, until it's actively growing wait until the soil is dry 2 " or so down before watering. Better a bit dry than too wet, don't want it rotting. Good luck and share pics!

jmillerent, just north of you and with this rain and temps in the 40s one might
wait until next week. They are saying flooding, hope you are on high ground.
I'm in SW WA State and the weather has been extreme!

Yep, things are a bit sloppy here with all the rain in this "atmospheric river", But at least it's warmed up considerably.
I will try to get it out as soon as we get a few dry days.
Thanks for all the advice.

I just dug up that woody peony that has never bloomed.

I had to wash all the dirt off it because there were some bad vines choking it and I sure did not want to introduce that into a new bed.
It split into two pieces, so I planted them in separate holes. There was also a weird root that smelled like a peony root but I've never seen one that looked like this. I planted it in a separate hole, too.

Main division



Closeup of main division


Second division



Closeup of second division



Weird root that was in with the others.



I found a horseshoe when I dug the holes… maybe that will be good luck!

The only tree peony that I've ever divided was done accidentally while digging it out to move the plant to AL. It grew just fine, bet yours do, too! Looks like pic 1 and 2 have pieces of the original nurse root but with good looking tree peony roots, yay! The 3rd looks like it might be straight tree peony roots to me. Hopefully this rejuvenates the plant and you end up with 3 gorgeous woody peonies! Looks like you're doing an excellent job with them! Question though, will you remove the herbaceous nurse root? The one I divided came from Adelman's originally, didn't have any to remove so I've never done that…..

With a horseshoe you cannot go wrong, Mieko!
I did not see the herbaceous root in the 1st division clearly - just the dark part, but the 2nd root striped dark part is obvious. I agree with Liz your 3rd division looks like TP as well. Good luck!
Personally I would probably try to get rid of any herbaceous roots before planting new divisions. Liz could be right on the 1st one and those 2 white sprouts on the left and right side are herbaceous growth? You have to look at it again...

The eyes on the first one look like they're coming from the tp part, I was looking at the dark part on the side laying on the cardboard, is that part of the mostly rotted herbaceous root? I think it's too far gone to be a concern in both divisions, just don't know if it's better/worse/of no concern to leave it on replanting. I've read posts on FB where people who have been growing tps for decades used to routinely dig up plants 6-10 years in the ground to remove the nurse roots, if it's been that long I've wondered why they'd bother? Guess I should've asked there, huh? Glad the US growers routinely use nurse roots from lactis that shouldn't sprout in the first place but I'd have thought the nurse root would either take over the plant or die out, why risk digging it up to remove if it didn't have to be dug for another reason?

Those dark pieces were completely concave and did not have anything that looked alive on them. I just left them.

Thank you for saying that the third division looks like a woody. It was so odd looking, but had that peony smell. It will be interesting to see what comes up.

Sorry the photos had so many shadows. It was bright and sunny.

I am so relieved that I got it moved. I dug a trench around the plant and then lightly pried up underneath it, going slowly around until I had it loose. I had dug one large hole, but had to dig two smaller holes near it after they naturally came apart. So they are in a triangle. I would think they should all bloom alike and will look like a giant bush with time.

Of course if I get a bloom I will post it.

LG, the roots look so healthy and alive! No doubts they will start growing right away. Hopefully some of the divisions will have a flower this year

You've had really good results with your planting method, bet those divisions will be very happy and reward you with blooms this spring on at least one or two plants!

Thanks Anya and Liz for the encouragement.

They all look like TP's shoots to me. They are so close to the TP roots that they might all be TP's shoots. I wouldn't do anything now, but let them develop until you can clearly see if they are TP or herbaceous shoots.

Thanks Jasmin! I have never seen any herbaceous growth on this woody. I hope that it leafs out nicely since it's now in full sun.

My neighbour dug up her old tree peony last fall. The peony has been in her garden for at least 18 years; that is since I moved into the neighbourhood. The tree peony fell into four pieces. The old plant had still the herbaceous root attached.
By the way, I got the smallest piece; not herbaceous roots, only one or two little tree peony roots. I planted it in a really big pot and protected it. The little one has only one leaf bud, but it is alive. Hope it will survive I took the smallest piece because it has a better chance to survive with me than without any special care in my neighbour's garden. Any suggestions on how to improve its chances of survival?