Hello everyone. I haven't posted here in a while and like everybody else, I have been poring over catalogs from different growers. I came across Center Point Peonies in Iowa and they have two varieties that I am interested in, Dandy Dan and John Harvard. Has anybody ordered from them before?

I didn't recognize the name but when I googled it I realized you're talking about Mr Mackerman! I ordered from him 2 years ago, it was a bit weird because you can't pay online, have to mail a check. He ended up not being able to find a variety I ordered when he dug, he called me about it and we found another to substitute. None of the varieties I purchased from him bloomed last spring but it was a pretty bad one; lots of my 1st year peonies didn't because of the crazy weather. I can't attest to the accuracy of the ID's because of that but all of them did come up. Very nice man. I'm pretty sure the place is up for sale now, though, don't know if that's going to make any difference to the customer.

I also see the Tree Peony Garden has gone out of business.

@Ticker has gotten peonies over the years from Center Point Gardens. I always heard her speak fondly of them.

Has anyone seen 'White Delight' for sale? It is an Auten 1935.

I don't think so, LG. I'll keep an eye out. There are still a few that don't have their lists out, hopefully you'll get lucky! I had to look this one up because I'd never heard of it before. I didn't realize just how many peonies Auten introduced! I couldn't find a picture of White Delight but the description sounds amazing.

Tracey, I was told TPG was retiring so at least they're going out of business for a good reason. It's too bad, I liked ordering from them. Lots of turnover in the peony seller world in the last few years.

Oh no! I am so sad that TPG is going out of business! I wanted to order some tree peonies from them last year but I didn't have ready and proper space for their tree peonies. I was hoping to buy them this year. So sad! They probably have the nicest stocks of any tree peony business out there and they are not so overpriced.

Thank you Liz and Tracey for the info. I think I'm going to pass. I will keep my eyes open on other growers. They might offer them in the future.

I read Ticker's review on DG but that was in 2005.

I'm hoping mine from Mr Mac will bloom this spring, if so I'll post if they were id'ed correctly. I really, REALLY hope so--I initially bought from him because he offered Mammoth Rose when I couldn't find it anywhere else. That man is a treasure, he was in his late 70s when I contacted him the first time and still worked the entire peony field himself by hand. The replacement peony we finally ended up for the one he couldn't locate was one of his unregistered seedlings. I have a tag on it now, calling it Mr Mac. I'm afraid it'll end up biting me in the end--when I'm feeling too lazy to weed and see that tag to remind me that someone almost 30 years my senior tended a peony field much larger than my gardens by himself....hopefully it'll be an inspiration instead of a taunt!

LG, I have never heard of White Delight peony either, but I do love Mr. Auten's peonies. I looked it up on the Carsten database and the description of it sounds like the perfect white peony. Do you know where on the web can a pic of this gorgeous peony be seen?

I too found it on Carsten's database, and thought it sounded perfect! I just looked in three of my peony reference books, and it is not listed.
I guess we will have to just wonder about it.

Okay, so that one's the white unicorn of peonies. Make sure you post a pic back here if you find one!

Liz - yes please. Post pics when they do bloom. If they are correctly labeled, I will order from him.

I will, Lily! And I think I'm ordering from Chateau CharMaron again this year after all. They have a couple that have been on my list for a while that I can't find anywhere else. If they're still available later in the spring and the ones I got from her last fall are doing well I'll order again.

Regarding The Peony Garden of Center Point - I do think they are out of business. I believe Mack was in poor health. I don't know if it has been sold or not. I got some very nice peonies from them in years past, but not so much in the past 5 years or so. Very sad.

Thank you. I just checked CharMaron's catalog. They have very nice listings. Maybe they'll have better looking roots this year.

Thank you Diann. Very sad indeed.

Liz, did your plants from Charmarron bloom yet? Were they true to name?
I bought 4 in 2014. Only one bloomed and it did not come close to what I paid for. Take a look. I was going to see about the other 3 this year before contacting them.