I'm not sure any of us even know what normal is anymore. It certainly is unpredictable and we learn to expect the unexpected. I guess the good plants will survive it all, right?

No, digging it wasn't scary. I did it mostly with a garden fork and my hand (the good one. LOL). The roots of the ferny aren't like the roots of a lactiflora, they are more spider/potato like. I managed to get it out without too much of a problem. Now, the real test is if it comes back next spring.

Liz, I got the obovata and one just labeled 'tenuifolia'. It is a single red. Since they arrived day before yesterday and it is down to 17 with 2-3 inches of snow it was fun planting. No clue if they will survive. Dug the soil well, mixed in some bone meal and leaves then chopped up with my shovel. 9Neither my leaf blower that grinds leaves nor the regular grinder were working.) Planted them with the pips just an inch or so below the surface and covered with leaves. Who knows. I am pretty disgusted with myself. Maybe it would have been better to pot up and put in the crawl space but it is really too warm down there - in the low 50's mostly.

Those will probably be just fine.
Remember the ground is still warmer than the air temperatures.
We are still warmer here than you are.
I have tried keeping potted peonies over the winter with not great success.
The ones planted out in the ground, in the fall, take off better in the spring.

Thanks Caroline. Really need the encouragement. Winter really hits me hard, as it does many people. For some reason this year seems especially difficult. Probably in direct relation to how much I haven't done or did poorly. Ready to pave the entire garden over and plant petunias in pots. Yuk.

I think Caroline is right, Mary Stella. I've read plenty of updates on the seller's websites talking about planting in the snow and really cold weather, as long as you can pack the dirt around the roots well they'll do fine. Was the fernleaf a decent size? I haven't ordered anything other than the woodland peonies from them. I'm excited about the Obovata though, hoping for a bloom or two in the spring!

The fernleaf was pretty tiny. including roots was only maybe 10" long with one tiny pip. But looked healthy. Doubt it will bloom for several years. The obovata actually had three stems with leaves still on it. I was really surprised at that. I think I probably need to go pat firmly where I planted them. I don't think I did that.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea to make sure the soil is tamped down good. Sounds like your fernleaf was probably the same size as the P. Emodie I got from them but for the price I'm okay with it. Emodie was $15 and Obovata was $18 and I think Obovata has a chance of blooming next spring. The P. Japonica I got from them bloomed 1st year and it was smaller than P. Obovata.
I actually got 6 species peonies from a Facebook seller, they were much smaller than those from Keeping It Green for about the same price each, small enough that I put all of them in a single 3 gallon pot to overwinter in the garage. I'm not sure about that process, kinda thinking it might be a better to put them in the garden that my seedlings are in, what do you guys think?

Liz, in the past, I left my potted peonies outside during the winter, and they did fine. I'm going to pot up the Itohs that I got from Springhill this week, to give them a chance to get larger. They'll get planted in the garden next fall.

I think it is best to plant small plants in pots until they are bigger. Lesson learned from this spring when I accidentally pulled a small Berry Garcia itoh from MB while weeding around the bed. It was so small that I thought it was a weed and pulled it with the others along with its tag. Weeks later when I remembered and went to check on the plant only to find that it has gone.

If my plants are very small or special and die to the ground each winter I put a stake or in the case of these peonies a little fence around them. Reminds me that there might be something there to watch

That is a great idea, Mary. I wish I put a small tomato cage around this little plant. It would have stopped me from my ambitious weeding that cost me an itoh peony.

ouch

I've tried to overwinter peonies in pots outside here, they didn't make it. I'll either put them in the garage in the pot they're in now or plant them in the garden closest to the house in a pot with the bottom cut out--that worked very well for peony seeds. I'm afraid I'll forget about the pot in the garage and they'll dry out completely, not a good thing....

I hope that everyone is having an amazing Holiday Season!

I have finally started planting my peony roots, I was previously focused on planting the spring blooming bulbs. I decided to pot up the 2 Kopper Kettle roots, because they are so small.

TP Houki was planted on 12/14 in the garden, and it looks like it wants to leaf out, thanks to our crazy weather this winter. We've had several nights with frost. However, this is one of the warmest winters I have ever experienced in GA. We had a lot of rain this past week, and now temps in the 70's

I've still got The Fawn, Circus, Circus, Lord Cavin, and 2 Itoh Scarlet Heaven to get in the ground. The potted peonies that I've had since the spring will remain in pots this winter.

The cool weather will be back on Thursday, and I hope it's going to stay cold for a while, to give all of the peonies the chilling time they need to bloom properly in the spring.

After reading this entire thread I realize that I have found kindred peony people here.
I counted up my 2015 new peonies- 40 total.
One excellent source of Peonies that no one mentioned here is Gold City Flowers in KY. They are a fabulous retired couple who purchased Myron Biggers peonies when he retired . They send out great divisions that are true to name.

https://www.goldcityflowergard...

I look forward to seeing everyone's peony photos this Spring and will be adding my photos, too .

LOVE GOLD CITY!!! Didn't know who Biggers was until I came across GCF's website, have several now. So glad you joined us, LG--the forum has been much more active since you showed up!!!

Thanks Liz, I just love to find out more about my favorite flower-the Peony.
I am learning a lot on the Peony Forum.

Yeah, we're the peony pushers here....there are much worse obsessions, though! And the people are so NICE, unlike some other places....

It's so lovely to see more activity on this forum! And I agree with Liz, LG - I'm loving your enthusiasm and see you're a great enabler like others here In the past I've been too cheap to add many peonies, but I love them so much and the photos here have prompted me to start adding a few new roots for the last couple of years. I should start seeing some blooms from new additions this year