Finding peony roots for sale, at first seems a daunting task for the novice gardener. However, herbaceous peony plants are shipped during the bare root stage, so that is what you will receive when ordering peonies through a mail order catalog or through a site found on the Internet. Just make sure the description states the roots are for at least a 2-year-old and preferably a 3-year-old plant.

Herbaceous peony roots for sale are not really mature enough to survive transplanting well until they have 3 to 5 "eyes" on the root crown. Plants listed at a very different price from what other growers are charging for them may be immature and may not bloom as expected for several years. The eyes are what the new shoots will grow from, pushing up through the soil, so they need to point upward when the peony is planted.

Tree peony roots look a little different than herbaceous peony roots for sale but should also have a healthy appearance, with many fine roots on the main roots. Sometimes these are destroyed in the power washing process the roots must undergo before being shipped to the U.S. If that is the case, they take a little time to grow back. Tree peonies are often available for shipping as container plants.

Peony Roots for Sale Should Be Freshly Dug for The Customer

Due to the logistics of large-scale distribution, some peony roots are quite dry when received by the customer. These will often benefit from soaking in cool water for a few hours before planting. However, other peony roots are dug to order, better packaged in sphagnum moss, and shipped directly to the gardener, thus arriving in much fresher condition.