I ordered Red Grace for two reasons. The Henry Bockstoce she sent me before is RG. So for ID verification and my husband's favorite peony in the garden. I'd like to cut lots of RG and bring them inside.

Here is Red Charm and suppose to be Red Grace.

Wow Lily! That's an amazing collection! I can't imagine getting 49 peonies in at the same time and having to plant them all....then again I'd have been disappointed that the number was reduced to 35 as well. I didn't go back and check all but I know I ordered Kopper Kettle, Squirt and Mammoth, none of them made it into the order. There was a hand written receipt in my box and I already knew how much I was charged, had a fun little snafu with my credit card. We took a trip to Tennessee and I used my card there that weekend then Neva tried to run it for the shipment, oops! I had to call to assure the bank it was a valid charge before she could get paid, so glad she called instead of just cancelling the order. I'll take having to make a call over the bank allowing suspicious charges with no notice any day, though.
A worse disappointment was not getting my Parklands order at all this year, the entire thing was cancelled because of health reasons. It's probably a good thing though--I'm out of room in my existing beds now. I'm not sure if I want to start new beds, either. I think this apathy is just end of the season blahs talking, as soon as I start seeing growth/buds/blooms next spring I'm sure I'll be out putting down cardboard and ordering planters mix, if only to alleviate the crowding problem I'll have in a few years...and it seems that my "Wanted" list has grown rather than shrunk.....
Do you think you'll order from them next fall if they are still in business then? I think I would--the prices are just too good to pass up. They have several in their inventory that I have purchased/planted then lost over the years. At half price I'd probably try again.
Also Lily, from experience--make sure your Cytherea is planted in a dryer than normal spot, it doesn't tolerate damp at all. Karen actually tipped me to the fact when I mentioned that I had one that had never bloomed after being in the garden for several years. I re-planted it in a bed at the top of a slope instead of midway down and it bloomed for the first time last spring. It's one that I don't water at all, deliberately put no drip head with it, but it does get moisture from the heads on the peonies nearby. I've never seen that one droop; I kept an eye on it last year to make sure my solution wasn't too extreme but it thrived on the treatment. Beds are mulched really heavily though so they retain more moisture than they normally would here in CO.

I too may suffer a bit of peony fatigue this year. Though if I can get my brother's friend to come and prepare a planting bed ready for me at no charge, I am sure this fatigue will quickly dissipate and be replaced with excitement. Wow, you guys really go all out this year with this sale. I am so looking forward to seeing flowers from your new additions as well as those already established in your garden.

Yeah, I'd be excited to get help at no charge, too, Karen! That would certainly cure my fatigue up really quick!

The ones that are not sent are the nice ones in my list. Cora Stubbs, Roselette, Pink Derby, Maestro, Raspberry Ice, Lavender, John Harvard, Salmon Glory, Merry Mayshine, Myrtle Tischler, Mammoth, Hansina Brand, Serene Pastel and Mary Eddy Jones. Somebody at the Peony Yahoo Group loves Mary Eddy Jones so I ordered it and got disappointed.

I read about your Parkland order got cancelled. It is a big disappointment for sure. If you order again from them next year, maybe this time they could fulfill it.

My wish list is not that long. I would like to grow those fragrant oldies like Philomele, etc. The varieties that are bred by Calot mostly are fragrant. I still have a bit of the garden that wasn't touched. Hostas and lilies grow there. I could not do everything in one season. As what they say "Rome wasn't built in a day.". Two of my husband's friends came over to help me. One dug the hostas and one did the rototilling. I rented one for the job. I need to add some garden soil in the new tilled beds. Hoping it will be done this midweek as it is getting colder.

I will definitely order from Bannister again if they are still in business and the roots are still half priced.

I have to wait for the CC statement to arrive to know how much Neva charged me. I have an estimate but would like to see the actual amount and the receipt.

Thank you for the tip. I will plant Cytherea in a raised bed that I cleared out and ready to be planted with peonies and lilies. The lily bulbs I dug from the garden are stored in peat moss right now. I want to plant them at the same time with the peonies.

OMG, Lily! My body already aches just hearing all that you have done! What a big project you did for your garden this fall. Please share your garden photos with us when the peonies are growing and in bloom. I wonder if you grow Myrtle Gentry. It has a very wonderful pleasing fragrance. I got only one flower last year so couldn't smell enough of it. I hope it will bloom more this coming spring.

Karen, in the picture is my kidney shaped bed that I added a few years ago when I got into peonies. Haven't tended my garden for two years so that is how it looked like last spring. I dug some roots to have it tilled and get the grasses out. In some part, I used Round Up. Hopefully I did not damaged any of the peonies. Most peonies that are planted there are from Bannister's and some common ones I found at the nurseries here for a song. Kansas, Paula Fay and some NOIDs. I gave away the NOIDS so I could have a space for a couple more varieties. There are beds on both sides of this bed and the front/sidewalk area is the part I left untouched. I don't have a backyard as our house is older and set at the back.

In from of the house is all clear. We cut down two big trees so I relocated the shade plants growing in there. I could probably plant about 20 varieties of peony in that bed.

I will share this pictures now so you can see what I did in the garden. :)

I just ordered Myrtle Gentry. There is one from Swenson that I would like to get because of its fragrance.

Wow, what a lovely transformation! I bet it will be gorgeous when the peonies and other plants are in bloom. Does your house face this front bed? Does your driveway wrap around this bed? Wouldn't mind looking out every morning to have a beautiful yard looking back at me. I haven't done anything on the scale that you have accomplished for your front bed. Beautiful job!

Looks like you're ready for the fun part Lily, planting the peonies! Much nicer putting them in a clean, weeded bed than having to weed as you go. Looking forward to the pictures of blooms in that bed next spring! Since we're all supposed to post any pics of 1st year blooms here I think you should definitely post a pic of that bed in full bloom in the same post!

Thank you Karen! Yes, the house face this bed. No, our driveway goes all the way to the end of the lot.

I agree with you Liz. I will definitely post pics of this bed in full bloom. Garden soil were bought last night by hubby and his friend. 800 lbs of dirt he said. Now the fun part begins. I hope the beds are not too muddy to work on as it rained last night.

I got all six of my bare root peonies in the ground. The ones I had potted I heeled into the veggie garden and I'll get them planted next spring, unless I get more turf tore up yet this fall. I may be done for the season, because I screwed up my index finger on my right hand and it is very painful to put any pressure on it and if I happen to bump it on anything it can almost drop me to my knees. So....

However, I did manage to get my pink ferny dug and relocated. She was getting crowded out by a couple aggressive peonies and iris near her. Crowding a ferny can be the death of them. The bare root ones I planted were Lemon Chiffon, Pink Cotton Candy, Spiffy, Chocolate Soldier, Sugar N Spice and Raspberry Charm.

I hope your finger feels better soon, Diann. Looks like a fine selection of peonies you picked out for planting this fall.

Sounds like a lot accomplished for many of us this fall. Now we just look forward to bloom season. It will be here before we know it.

I hope your finger recovers quickly, Diann! I had to look up Spiffy, haven't heard that name before. I agree with Tracey, you got some nice ones!
I have to ask as well, was your pink fernleaf hard to move? I'm a bit scared of digging and transplanting fernleafs because the roots can break apart so easily. I saved Jerry's instructions on digging/transplanting but am dreading the first that I have to move....I handled them like I would a baby when the roots first arrived and spent much more time gently planting them than with any of the other peonies I've ever planted, even the super expensive ones. I did end up breaking off a single root piece from my red double fernleaf even with the gentle treatment.
Adelmans offered the pink species fernleaf this year and I got 2 of them, it'll be interesting to compare pics this next spring if mine bloom. Karen got that one, too, don't remember anyone else saying they ordered it, but hopefully we'll have some blooms to compare with yours next spring to see if we have the same variety. There was no way I was passing up the deal Adelmans had, the cost was less than half the amount I'd seen with the other companies that offered it but I'm not sure I'll like it as much as the more common red fernleaf. The flowers on the fernies are so small; I tend to fall for the dramatically big blooms but I love the contrast of that beautiful red with the delicate fernleaf foliage. Do you like the pink fernleaf as well or better than your reds? Do you have other peonies that bloom as early as your fernies?

I just received my ferny and a species obavata(sp). We have about 2" of snow on the ground so need to plant fast.

I hope my pink fernleaf will bloom next spring too, Liz. WIll definitely post pic if it blooms. There were some nice eyes on the root that Adelman sent me. I was shocked to get as many blooms from my double fernleaf from Fina Gardens this spring. Hopefully, it will not be too set back that I won't have any bloom this coming spring as Jerry noted in another post. I just could not bring myself to pinch off buds.

My yard is a mess right now. Dahlias are nice when they are in bloom but digging up and discarding the plants now that they succumbed to frost is a pain. I don't know whether I should compost the plants or toss them in the trash. Some have PM and pest issues.

Did you get the P. Obovata from Keeping it Green, Mary Stella? If so I hope it was a nice as the ones they sent me! And which fernleaf did you get? All of my planting is done for the fall, finally, and I finished mulching the 3rd bed today. I'm almost out of mulch so I'm thinking the rest of the beds will have to wait until next year. I don't think I'll ever get that much mulch delivered at the same time, the pile is intimidating! I'd much rather pick it up myself a yard or two at a time so the job doesn't feel so darned big.
I know what you're saying with not pinching off the blooms, Karen--I can't force myself to do it, either! And the double red fernleaf is so pretty with lots of blooms like that, I wouldn't have sacrificed a single one. Besides, who the heck really knows what the next year will bring??!! I say enjoy the blooms when you have 'em!
And Karen, I planted all of my new peonies with a bit of BulbTone and some azomite, hoping to see so good growth next spring. Finally got all of the peony rings in, won't put them out until next weekend though. I need to put some plastic mesh over each in preparation for next spring. We'll see if a little babying makes a difference; if I get less frost kill-off than last year the effort will be worth it.

Wow, it sounds like you are ready for Mother Nature, Liz! Sometimes, when we are all ready and prepared for the worst, the worst does not happen. And I hope that will be what happens for you next spring. No bad weather from Mother Nature so you won't have to use the plastic covering.

That's what I'm hoping for too, Karen! Our forcasters are saying we're expected to have another cold, snowy spring next year as well, though, just like last year. It HAS to get back to a normal spring eventually, though--doesn't it?