Thanks for the suggestion. I've changed the name of the KZfaq site. Makes more sense!

So sorry for the late reply. You will set back your peony if you divide it. Let's say you divide it into 4 good-sized pieces and replant the 4 pieces. You'll have a good shot at getting some flowers next spring because you're planting plenty of roots to support the growth of flowers next year. But if you divide it into several small pieces, you may have to wait a year or two to see flowers again - you really won't have the root mass to support lots of flowers for a couple of years. Peonies take time to settle in and get established so they can support all those huge blooms. Good luck!

I use 1.5-2 foot spacing, but I like my peonies close together. If you prefer some space between the plants, then go with 3 foot spacing.

@@douglascrane4397 thank you

You can, but the transplants will not do much the first year. By dividing peonies in the fall, you give the transplants a little time to settle in while they're not actively growing. You stress the transplant a little less with fall division. Whether you dig/divide/move in spring or fall, you'll likely have to wait a year or two for the peony to have the root system and energy to really crank out flowers again. I divide a few each fall leaving the rest of the peonies to continue the flower show in the spring.

@@douglascrane4397 Thank you!

No

Go to Mid Atlantic Peony Society wonderful source

Heliopsis, shasta daisies, bee balm, and coreopsis follow the peonies. Hibiscus flower even later in the season.

I've tried just driving a spade through the plant to get a piece, but it doesn't typically go well. I end up with lots of fractured roots, none of which are very big. That method does allow you to leave the main plant undisturbed so that's an advantage because the plant doesn't have to recover from a big transplanting shock. I prefer digging it all up and then I can break it into pieces. Either method works, but if it's a small piece of the root with just 2-3 eyes, your friend may have to wait a couple of years to see flowers.

We do not have tree peonies. I do have one intersectional peony, called an Itoh peony - it's a cross between a tree peony and an herbaceous peony - it's called Bartzella and it's yellow. All of our other peonies are herbaceous and range in colors from white to pink to coral to magenta. They are all potted and we'll begin selling them for $25 each in April. Hope to see you at the farm! Show quoted text

We pot up the peonies we dig in September and sell them at our farm in the spring and early summer. I have had a few customers who want to buy the peonies in the fall, but again, we only sell them at our farm. I just planted some new peonies I got from Van Engelen, a company located in Connecticut - they will mail the roots to you and their prices are very reasonable.

Our peonies are potted up in 3-gallon pots so they're too large to ship. We only sell them at our farm. I ordered my original peonies from various mail-order companies - I've had good success with peonies ordered from John Scheepers in Connecticut. Due to increased demand, you may want to place an order during the summer, and they'll send you the roots at the appropriate planting time in the fall. This will be a smaller root section than we offer in our potted peonies, but it will get you started!