Karen, I just went out and took a photo with my iPhone of the one I got from Adelman's. Mine isn't nearly as nice as yours.

From your pic, I think yours is really further along than mine, LG. I think mine is about 5 inches high. Because it is so short, it looks like a small mound.

I see 5 buds in your photo. I only have one.

You are right! I missed that one. I think it is doing well because I gave it a heaping tsp of Espoma bulb fertilizer when it started to grow. Also, I mixed in green sand and azomite when I planted it. I don't know if that makes any difference but I tell you what, that Espoma bulb fertilizer really makes huge difference esp. on new peonies. This year, I experimented by not applying the bulb fertilizer on some new peonies. Some have no buds or if there are buds they are all blasted. Adonis and Nosegay have no buds. Diana P:arks' buds got blasted. These are the ones I did not apply any Espoma bulb fertilizer.

I too add supplements to my planting holes. Azomite is wonderful.
I just wonder if they gave me an inferior division because I won it in the APS auction....they donate the roots, but I paid the full amount for it.
As for 'Adonis', I got mine in the Fall of 2014. No buds in 2015, and it looks like no buds this year. I am so disappointed. I wonder if it is one of those you have to wait for, like 'Carol'? My 'Carol' is huge this year at 5 years old, but I cried over her, begged and pleaded, but she took a long time to get going. Well worth the wait, in my opinion.

Let me look to see if I can find a pic of the roots they sent me. You can compare it then.

Here is a pic of the root they sent me:





Have to say that Adelman Peonies sent me very nice roots. I bought 4 from them last year. They are all coming along nicely. As soon as my budget allows, I would definitely like to splurge on Pastelegance from them. I wonder if ordering early helps you get nice roots. I remember placing the order quite early last year.

I've never gotten a substandard root from Adelman's, no matter when I ordered. I think they're a pretty stand-up company that enjoys a good reputation in the community for a good reason. I ordered 2 roseas from them, both are still under just a bit of snow as they were both small enough before the last storm that I didn't cover them with pots. Really hope I get at least 1 bloom....

Diann,
Doing good! Waiting for it to warm up again. We turned the heat off and I'm a bit cold this morning.

Karen,
Nice roots!

Karen, here's the photo of my root. I just wonder why it only has one bud. I should have looked before whining. This is a great division.

Your Rosea root looks even better than mine LG. I think yours has 7+ eyes! I would think they would send a better root for APS auction than what they normally sell. There are only two things that come to mind as to why yours has only a bud. When did you plant your root? I think with fernleaf, the earlier you plant them, the more time it has to develop root growths. THe second is did you use Espoma bulb fertilizer? Not all fertilizer is the same. I have tested 3 different brands and only the Espoma bulb fertilizer makes a difference. Jobes and brand name store did not give me the same results. Boy, Espoma should pay me something since I rave too much about their product.

Karen, I planted it Nov 1, 2015. I did not know that about the fernleaf peonies. This is my very first one. Thank you for making me feel better about it. The auction is in October so the roots get sent out afterwards.

I haven't tried the Espoma bulb fertilizer. I use the holly Tone and Flower Tone elsewhere in my garden and one of my gardening buddies swears by the Plant tone. I will pick some of the bulb tone next time I am at the garden center that carries it.

I took a look at my pic's date and it was 9/14/2016. I planted mine about 7 weeks ahead of you so mine had more time to develop a good root system. Fernleafs go dormant about August. I think Nov. is a bit late to plant fernleafs if you want flowers the next spring.

Karen, I googled Espoma bulb fertilizer and got lots of hits but there are minor variations in the names. What is the exact name of what you use. I don't want to order one of those other generics you mentioned to get lesser results. Thanks

OK, Mary. Let me take some pics of my Espoma Bulb fertilizer bag:

Front of the bag


Back of bag with analysis


Start with 1 tsp for new -3 years old peony. Established peony may need 2 tsp. Don't overdo this rate because it will cause all sorts of weird growths instead of uniform growth.

Properly applied, the peony looks like this

Mackinac Grand


Overfertilized, the peony's growths are not uniform, some tall stems, some short stems, not in a uniform mound shape;

Henry Bockstoce

Progress on some fernleafs:

Fernleaf Hybrid planted in fall 2013


Double fernleaf looks like its buds are about to open

Both plants are looking good. I am not familiar with the hybrid.

My last pic of fern leafs. Someone had asked the usual time duration of blooming. This year was different with the doubles blooming before the singles but some were in bloom over a period of a full month. 3-22 to 4-23.

Here is my tenuifolia rosea from Adelman's open bloom. What do you think?

Appears to be the same as mine.

It is a darker pink than what I expected but it's pretty. It'll be interesting to see what Harvey B. says about whether it's a species peony or hybrid. I'll be disappointed if it's a hybrid but only because it wasn't advertised as one. I like the grayish colored foliage and the bloom is nice.