Mary Stella, my dahlias are in 3 gallon pots, and I just bring them in the house and keep them dry in their pots in my plant room. I put them out after the danger of frost has passed.

Now did anyone order from Select Plus in Canada? They haven't answered my inquiries about when my order is going to ship. Is that usual for them?
Some folks are so busy they don't answer in a timely manner.

Still haven't received my peonies ordered from John Scheepers. I've purchased allium and other bulbs through them through the years, but never peonies. I ordered Edens Perfume, Festiva Maxima, Koningen Wilhelmina, and Raspberry Sundae - this was their Heavenly Herbaceous special. I have the spots all picked out and ready to dig - just need the peonies!

Hope they will send you correct peonies per your order. Their supplier is not very reliable in that respect.

Great I ordered two sets, one for my daughter and one for me (4 peonies each). They have done good with the alliums so we'll see! Does anyone know, if they come while I'm gone for a week on vacation, do I need to have my DH do anything with them - soak them or anything? I've only a couple of peony bushes over the years and I always planted them immediately.

I bought peonies from Van Engelen, their wholesale division a few years ago and got all mislabels for my order. Although the peonies were nice looking, they were not the correct ones. If it is any consolation, they sent me close proximities to the ones that I ordered and they all turned out to be very beautiful peonies, just not correctly named. If you have no care about the names, then don't worry. You will be happy with the roots that they send you. Their bulbs supplier is excellent. Just the peony supplier is the problem. Hopefully, they get better supplier this year.

If the peonies arrive while you are away, just have your husband put the packages in a cool dark place. The roots should be fine until you return.

Just received my order (Patricia Hanratty) from Hidden Springs Flower Farm, first time ordering peonies via mail order. Really nice root structure with 7-8 eyes! The entire root was the size of a volley ball! In the ground just in time for a nice rain.

RJ, you will be pleased with your peonies from them. I have been.

Karen, I have ordered bulbs from Scheepers/Van Engelen for years and never have received anything mislabeled. The last peonies I got from them were fine. I did order 'Purple Spider' from them this year, along with lots of bulbs. My order hasn't come yet.

I just got an email from Frank at Select Plus, and he has been ill. So I am much relieved that my order wasn't lost. I will post photos of the peony roots when I get them.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Mieko2 said:RJ, you will be pleased with your peonies from them. I have been.

Karen, I have ordered bulbs from Scheepers/Van Engelen for years and never have received anything mislabeled. The last peonies I got from them were fine. I did order 'Purple Spider' from them this year, along with lots of bulbs. My order hasn't come yet.

I just got an email from Frank at Select Plus, and he has been ill. So I am much relieved that my order wasn't lost. I will post photos of the peony roots when I get them.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!


I'm sure I will, went down to their nursery this past summer, great people and plants.

Down to 25F this morning. Glad I am almost done planting. Got three lily bulbs from BuggyCrazy. Want to be especially careful of them. Had them once - no longer available (actually Julia only sold them very briefly - don't know why they never were sold again - just some knockoffs) so will plant them in large pots and into the ground to be sure I don't lose them.

LG, maybe they have a different peony supply now. But 3 years ago, they sent me all wrong stuffs.

THis is the Moonstone that they sent me. Clearly not Moonstone, looks exactly like my Miss America


This is the Gay Paree that they sent me. Clearly not Gay Paree. Have to buy a correct one from another vendor.


This is their Eden's Perfume. I thought it is supposed to be pink but mine is mostly cream with blush.


The roots took 2 years to bloom. No, I did not complain to them because it was just a hassle. I will just learn my lesson and order peonies from trusted reliable exclusive peony vendors like Adelman, Solaris Farms and Hidden Springs.

Wrong or not they are beautiful.

Karen, I agree about VE. I ordered 3 Monstone plants from them, to add to the pink theme I had in 2 areas in my garden, but they sent the wrong plants! I don't have the time, or energy to argue with VE, or dig up and move the plants, so I left them as is. There went the pink theme. Oh well!

Karen and Annette, sorry to hear about your bad experience with VE. I've ordered one peony from them years ago. It was a small tc root. It took about 3 years to bloom but it bloomed true to name. I never ordered a single peony from them again. I've been ordering bulbs from them since I started gardening. I had no problem with my orders.

The bulbs I have received from VE and JS (knock on wood) have been true to name. The peonies, I ordered twice but never again. 6 varieties, none correct. Lesson learned. Glad others have had more success. Not me.

kousa said:I bought peonies from Van Engelen, their wholesale division a few years ago and got all mislabels for my order. Although the peonies were nice looking, they were not the correct ones. If it is any consolation, they sent me close proximities to the ones that I ordered and they all turned out to be very beautiful peonies, just not correctly named. If you have no care about the names, then don't worry. You will be happy with the roots that they send you. Their bulbs supplier is excellent. Just the peony supplier is the problem. Hopefully, they get better supplier this year.

If the peonies arrive while you are away, just have your husband put the packages in a cool dark place. The roots should be fine until you return.

The one name I want for my prayer garden so that one is critical, and I really want the raspberry sundae, other than that I'm not too picky as long as they are doubles

My bulbs from VE and JS have also been correct, but I don't think I'll be ordering peonies from them again either.

Did you realize they were the wrong ones prior to them finally blooming, or did they send them with incorrect names on the tags from the beginning? Just so I'm prepared

Everyone has been down that road at one time or another. Beware of bargains and stay with the top nurseries unless you just want something to bloom. None of the big names are immune from mistakes but the best odds are in your favor in obtaining correct plants. RE: Adelman's Orphan. I just e-mailed them to see if they had any left. I really liked that peony and mine went through the washing machine.

Ginny, the ones I got were mislabeled. I'd suggest that you put labels on them when you plant and check them against a trusted source for accuracy when they bloom. If they're wrong just move it in the fall and order from one of the big sellers like Adelman's, Hollingsworth's, Solaris, Fina, Klehm's Song Sparrow or Hidden Springs. I'm sure there are others that are just as reliable as well, just none jump to mind right now!

Jerry, I like Adelman's Orphan a lot as well, foliage is a really pretty color and it seems to increase very well. Yell if you can't get one from Adelman's and I'm sure I can get a decent sized root for you by next fall.

Mary, haven't heard anything from Peony Shop yet, probably need to email them. Did hear back from Pure Peonies, waiting for Addie Tischler. They didn't say hasn't been dug yet; does anyone know if they grow all of their own roots? If not that fact would probably keep me from ordering from them in the future. They were the only place I could find Langley this year, only reason I ordered from them to start with. LG, did you contact them about the condition of your Langley root? Just wondering how they responded.....

Karen, I agree about VE. I ordered 3 Monstone plants from them, to add to the pink theme I had in 2 areas in my garden, but they sent the wrong plants! I don't have the time, energy to argue with VE, or dig up and move the plants, so I left them as is. There went the pink theme. Oh well!