I heard the newer varieties had sturdier stems and didnt flop as most peonies do in my experience.
Can anyone give me some recommendations as to varieties?
Where to buy ?

The singles, the Japanese/anemones, the cactus and the itohs types have very sturdy stems. Some examples of the singles are Scarlet O'hara. Seashell, Krinkled White. Examples of the Japanese/Anemone are White Cap and Doreen. The cactus examples are Raspberry Rumba, Pink Luau, Green Lotus. Itohs include Bartzella, Cora Louise, Singin in the Rain.

Karen Thanks ,that is more than I hoped for.

When looking to buy peonies, look for the ones that say "landscape worthy" or "good stem strength or garden habit." Most of the newer varieties are bred to stand up to rain. Mind you, we're not talking tornado or hurricane strength rain, but an average rain. Check out Hollingsworth Peonies, Klehm's Song Sparrow, Adelman's Peony Gardens, Fina Gardens, Solaris Farms and Hidden Springs Flower Farm. They mostly tell you what will hold up and what will need staking. Oh yeah, Jo Ann, welcome to the addiction. You'll find a bunch of enablers here.

There is hardly a forum or thread that doesnt have an over abundance of enablers.
I will hold myself together.

LOL, come Jo Ann, come to the dark side, we have peonies.

LOL Oh my gawd.

BWAAAA HAAA HAAA

Resistance is futile JoAnn- the peony temptresses here lured me into ordering from Klehm's and Adelman's the last 2 years, LOL.

I have some questions about plant size from Klehms and Adlemans. What size pot do they come in?
Are they bare root ? If so I can manage that. When the pots are gallon size I have to pass,too bug to manage without falling over.
ALSO are there dwarf Peonies ?

Klehms and Adelmans both have nice sized 3-7 eye divisions from my experience. Klehm's is really good if you like the "cactus dahlia" style blooms; quite a few of them were hybridized by Klehm. Both are pretty good about leaving big enough feeder roots to support the number of eyes on their divisions. The biggest divisions I've seen so far have been from Fina and some of the ones from Select Plus. I say some because I ordered several Itohs from SP, most of which were huge, probably 10-15 eyes each. There was only a single one that was around 6-7 eyes which was actually the size I was expecting from all of them. All of the ones I've ever ordered from one of the larger mail order places have been bareroot when delivered in the fall. Hillside offers small species peonies in 4" pots but that's the only one I can think of that isn't bareroot in the fall.
How small are you talking about with dwarf? I know Klehm's has an area on their website for rock garden peonies, I think that's as small as they get. Some of them are 12" or so tall and have smaller roots. A lot of those are fernleafs and fernleaf hybrids.
Brooks Gardens has about the same sized roots as Klehm's and Adelman's and their prices are great this year. I also like A&D and Hollingsworth--same sized roots as Klehm's and Adelman's and they generally include a bonus peony if you order several; don't know what the cut off is! I ordered enough from Hollingsworth last year that they included a free Garden Treasure Itoh; 1st Itoh that I've ever received free, and it was pretty big.

JoAnn, both companies send their divisions bare root.

Liz, Thankyou so much for that info. I am adding a few more peonie growers to my list.
I have had a 7 year romance with Lilies but cant keep replacing them after the voles kill them. My idea was to replace those areas with Peonies but many are too big for the spots.
You have given me much to ponder.
I hadnt looked at the dahlia types because the Japanese are so beautiful.

Thanks Neal. I can handle bare root.

JoAnn, something I have noticed is that one vendor may have a steep price on a variety, and anther will offer it very reasonably, so if you see one you like that is pricey from one, be sure to check the others. Some differ dramatically.

Neal, thanks.
What is the proper name for the Hillside mentioned by Liz. I have googled and cant find it.

This is a fantastic place. Open to artists on special days.
http://carlisleflowers.net/lin...

I'm not familiar with Hillside either, can't help there. Linwood Gardens does look fantastic! Have you been there? I really must get some tree peonies- such elegant plants.

I used to go when it was closed to the public .Summer when the Peonies were out of bloom. Artists could take workshops in drawing and painting. I took one in Painting with OilStick. Artists could also go on Tuesdays when it was open to artists.I would take a lunch and camera and strol the grounds

Some paintings from that workshop. I dont use oilstick any more.Its really messy.

Jo Ann,

Do you prefer herbaceous or tree peonies? The peonies that appear on the Linwood Garden webpage are tree peonies. They are rather bushes.

I ordered tree peonies from Cricket Hill Garden and I was very happy. They know their customers by names and they do follow up.They have some smaller tree peonies (3'X3'.) I am thinking of ordering one of those myself.