On the official Illinois temp zones I am on the border of 5b and 6a. Straight East of St. Louis about 80 miles. We have had the warmest spring in memory with high 60s to 80s for about 2 weeks with more on the way. Daffs, tulips, forsythia, bradford pears, dogwoods, redbuds and my wife's bleeding heart just began blooming. Found my first bud ready to break open on a TB iris. I have a couple of early pink single peonies nearly a foot tall. Prime condition for a major heartbreak when the next freeze comes.

Wow..... and blooming already! Hoping for a mild rest of spring!

First bloom from my true species P.tenuifolia. Planted in 2010.

Fern leaf double red bud a few days before opening.

Jerry, it's getting close for you. Look at that bud. Beautiful.

Isn't it beautiful!! I can't wait to see the bloom.

This will be the last good pic of one of my single FL clumps.



Best of my closeups of a single blossom.

I think I should move mine. it comes back each year but looks nowhere near as lush as yours.

There is more than one type of fern leaf. There are true species P.tenuifolia and P.tenuifolia 'Flore Plena'. I have one of the species singles and a species double on order. The one pictured came from Spring Hill nursery a few years ago. It was sold as a double but turned out to be a single. I have divided and moved it 2 or 3 times. This is the third year in its present spot. I do not think it is the true species type due to the root structure so it could be one of the many hybrids. The species fern leafs multiply very slowly so do not expect them to spread like the common peonies. My double red is a hand-me-down from my wife's grandmother. We have had it for 30 years but it was planted close to a tree and did not do well until I moved it into the sunlight. It too has been divided at least 3 times and I now have 3 very healthy clumps about 3 years old.

They require full sun, prefer reasonably deep very well drained soil, and very little watering in a normal climate. No watering after they go dormant in late summer or early fall. I think they originated in very harsh climates so too much tlc does more harm than good.

There is a lady in Canada who has a huge clump of the single type but I do not know how long she had it. It appeared to be 4 or 5 feet in diameter in the picture she posted a couple of years ago.

As an afterthought, if you decide to move your fernies, I would caution you that their root systems can be fragile and there is a simple technique I use which will give you good results. I dig mine with a water hose nozzled down to a small pressurized stream.

that's interesting. I can see how it would work. I have no clue why I planted it there. I guess I had heard they liked shade. the fern leaf, not peonies in general. Thanks

Nice clump of Ferny's Jerry.

First double red.


I reduced the saturation a bit to get away from some flare. The actual color is more red than the picture.

My red single bloomed today. However I have lost my finest leafed fern leaf. On digging some fern leaf's have a single stem under the stalk the below several inches you may find a cluster of roots. Others the roots may be closer to the surface.

Side not P. osti opened to day on two of my younger plants

This was taken about 1 hour ago in bright sun. The doubles always have some flare from the sun.


These roots are from a double red relocated in '09. In '10 it bloomed and appeared to be doing well. In '11 it only put up one stem and was between 2 singles so I dug it. What a mess. I salvaged the center root with the stalk and new eye and gave it to PollyK. So far, she has not seen new growth but all of her plants are late.



Note the nodule at the bottom of the larger root. Much as you said about the roots.

The strange thing about my doubles is they are not as tall as the advertised size of 24 inches or so. Mine have never been more than 12-14 inches at bloom time and they do not continue to grow after blooming. They are about the same size as my singles which is contrary to the size given by the experts. I will be moving one of my small clumps due to my planting it in morning shade which is not recommended. This year the blossom buds had a black color on the outside indicating they may have been hit with a late frost which the ones in the sun did not get.

Depending upon how it divides, I would send a sample to you if you would want one. The original was given to my wife 30 years ago from her grandmother who was a German immigrant. Hard to say what it really is or how important it is. I have a species double on order from HSFF for comparison later. The species single bloomed and added a couple of stems after its seconf growing year.

My fern leaf peonies at least one is around 10" tall already. No buds but will keep looking. Earliest that I have had them up.

Maxine

You may be better off being a bit late. We are almost certain to have a hard frost or mild freeze by the middle of April. A couple more pics.

they are beautiful. I am moving mine for sure to more sun

Max, normally the buds are visible soon after the stalk breaks thru the soil surface. I had a single last year which did not put out any buds and didn't bloom. This year it did just fine. At ten inches, it should have nearly fully sized buds but do not give up. This has been a strange spring weather wise.