Yeah, Hollingsworth was the same last fall with the new owners. I'm sure they've taken over much more of the operation this year--all of the emails I've received from them this season have been from Joergen instead of Tim from the previous years. I'm reserving judgment for a while, don't plan to abandon them just because Don is retiring! They still have the best selection of peonies that I really like of all of the growers, we'll see how it goes with the transition of ownership.
"roots look to have sat around a bit" concerns me. I went a little crazy ordering from Bannisters because the prices were so good. I'm really hoping everything arrives healthy. Order from Hidden Springs should be on the way, although I never received a confirmation email. Their website is open again for late orders. Anyone interested in paying out $100 for Independence Day has another chance, it's part of their late order selection! They have several that have been reduced by a few dollars, probably an average of 10%. They still have several that are listed as rare.
I was a bit disappointed by my order from Chateau CharMarron this year, the roots were okay but they looked to have sat around a bit as well. Those were full priced, though, so I'm not sure I'll order from them again.
