Hi everyone,

I just visited the American Meadows website (do we like them?) and they're having a great sale on peonies! Some of them are even 1/2 price! Here's the link: http://www.americanmeadows.com...

Don't know if they're on sale everywhere right now, but I thought I'd mention it.

I don't think I've ever ordered peonies from American Meadows, sorry! I've ordered bulbs from them that were fine, a bit on the small side but they bloomed. Maybe someone will notice this post who's received peonies from them before and can give a first hand review, or there might be a review in the green pages. If you decide to order you'll have to post pics of the roots so we can all see what they send.

Just beware of the root quality that they send. Roots can be very small which may take seveal years for a small root to grow to blooming size. And then when it does bloom, you may find out it is not correctly labeled. Very frustrating! I have been there.

LizinElizabeth said:I don't think I've ever ordered peonies from American Meadows, sorry! I've ordered bulbs from them that were fine, a bit on the small side but they bloomed. Maybe someone will notice this post who's received peonies from them before and can give a first hand review, or there might be a review in the green pages. If you decide to order you'll have to post pics of the roots so we can all see what they send.

Oh, I did order from them (full price ). Unfortunately, being a newbee, I didn't take a picture. But I can describe it. It was about 8 inches long and looked like a good-sized parsnip only dark brown. It didn't have any "roots" to speak of, but the top had about 6 buds. I had a lot of trouble ID-ing the crown so I called American Meadows. The guy on the phone was really nice and helpful. He actually told me that I could plant the root on its side with one or more of the buds just barely poking out of the soil. I sort of did that because if I had literally laid it on its side, the whole big root would have been planted too near the surface, IMHO. So I angled it so that some of the buds were either poking out of the soil or within an inch of the surface, but I angled the body of the root downward so that the tip was about 6 inches down. And BTW, there wasn't a pointed tip at the end--it had been cut off.

Has anyone ever planted like this? I'm getting paranoid about it! I really want it to work and grow well. Should I replant it?

American Meadows has a 100% money-back guarantee so if it comes up as something other than what I ordered, I'm pretty sure they'll refund what I paid.

They also have nice videos. This page has the one I watched where they also state that you can plant the root on its side if you're having trouble ID-ing the top. The video is down a bit and on the left. http://www.americanmeadows.com...

kousa said:Just beware of the root quality that they send. Roots can be very small which may take seveal years for a small root to grow to blooming size. And then when it does bloom, you may find out it is not correctly labeled. Very frustrating! I have been there.

Karen, from my description, do you think this is a small root? Thanks!

It sounds like a decent root if it has about 8" tuber and 6 buds or "eyes". Can I ask what you ordered? It sounds like you planted it correctly. It does not matter how you lay the root as long as the eyes are up at soil level or 1" below and the rest of the root buried in the soil. I have planted many of my roots slanted, horizontal, or upright depending on the shape of the root. As long as the tuber roots do not stick out of the soil, you are on the right track.

I guess I am not getting any younger so I really dislike it when I get mislabel peonies esp. if they don't bloom the following spring. I hate to call up vendors and complain about the mislabel plants when it is their job to make sure that they send me the right varieties to begin with. I can understand of having one mislabel root out of a bunch but some vendors will send mislabel roots for half of an order or more. I will never order peonies from Van Engelen again because they sent me all mislabel roots for my order. Although the flowers are nice, some are the same cultivars that I already have.

Sorry if I am ranting. Don't worry about the roots from American Meadows. If they are your first peonies, they will be alright. Even if they happen to be mislabel, you will like them just the same. It is when you try to grow a distinct collection, that the correctly labeled root is important.

Good luck and welcome to the Peony Forum. Please share pics next year if the peonies bloom.

Karen, thank you.

I ordered (and hope I got) Bowl of Beauty. I swear, I feel like I'm preparing for a baby!

Rant away. I love it when people share their experiences with sellers. I just had an interesting one with White Flower Farm. Not the best in the world. Emails got mixed up and not replied to, and items didn't get shipped (a peony among them) but I just called customer service and they took care of everything for me. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks again!

Joanna, if you're in zone 5 you don't want the peony eyes exposed. You'll need to cover them with an inch or so of soil, only the very warmest zones should have exposed eyes. Good luck with your new peony, Bowl of Beauty is a nice one!

I have had good experiences with White Flower Farm. They have stood behind their products in times of wrong cultivar sent, which has been just once in several orders. WFF works with some of the great companies too, like the Lily Garden and Klehm's Songsparrow, which is why they have more interesting cultivars than the standard Dutch importers.

You'll love Bowl Of Beauty!

LizinElizabeth said:Joanna, if you're in zone 5 you don't want the peony eyes exposed. You'll need to cover them with an inch or so of soil, only the very warmest zones should have exposed eyes. Good luck with your new peony, Bowl of Beauty is a nice one!

Oh! Thank you! I'll cover them first thing in the morning! My Bowl of Beauty thanks you too!

magnolialover said:I have had good experiences with White Flower Farm. They have stood behind their products in times of wrong cultivar sent, which has been just once in several orders. WFF works with some of the great companies too, like the Lily Garden and Klehm's Songsparrow, which is why they have more interesting cultivars than the standard Dutch importers.

You'll love Bowl Of Beauty!

Tracey, thank you. I had a bit of a bad experience with WWF. One of the plants they sent me was in bad condition when it arrived so I emailed them immediately, but met with some resistance. They asked for pictures, which I sent. They didn't reply. After a week, I emailed again and they claimed that they never received my second email. So I called customer service and they apologized and rectified the situation. BUT, the worse part of this is that they backordered part of a large order, and didn't send a different, smaller order. While on the phone with them, I asked what's going on and the rep checked both my order and their inventory--she had no idea why the items weren't sent because they were sitting there in inventory! I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't called in and asked. The plants I ordered need to be planted now so it was a bit disconcerting, as was the email situation. I do love their selection, but I might think twice before ordering from them again.