I know that peonies resent transplanting and that the dormant season/fall is the best time to do this. But...(isn't there always a 'but'? lol)...I'm digging a new bed this weekend and I have the perfect place for these 3 Sarah B.s that have been in 5 gallon pots for a year. They are all leafed out and about 8" tall already. Will they be okay? The roots shouldn't be disturbed much in the planting, but I will have to wrestle them out of the black nursery pots.
thanks.
p.s. I'm also not looking forward to it because the pots are all full of ants. ick.
Transplanting
I'm not sure what would be best but this is what I would do. Cut them off. Why I would do that is because I know they regrow because my DH and FIL, when he used to live here, cut off this one white peony a number of times every summer. My MIL put a tomato cage around it and I finally did the same. Last fall I dug it out and moved it and could not believe how large the roots were - shared 5 roots with others - so I know they will put out more new growth. You're a lot warmer than I so this is just what I would do here. Hopefully someone else will have some experience that is closer to your zone. :)
I know what you mean about the "Buts...!" I would just carefully plant them in really well-prepared holes as soon as you possibly can with the minimum of disturbance to the root. I'd just cut the pot so you don't even have to shake them if you can. Unless they are terribly rootbound in the pots they might not even know they've moved. You are way ahead of me into spring, but sometimes you just have to DO IT! Keep them pretty moist until they look happy, too. I bet they'll be fine.
Angie, like Kooger said, try to cut the pots off of them rather than take them out.
We just dug up a bunch of peonies since we're going to Round-Up the whole area (it's reverted to grass and weeds over ivy - impossible!!). I figured they had a better chance of surviving dug up - even at the wrong time - than they would with their new shoots getting Round-Up on them. Wonder if I should let the eyes dry out and callous before planting them again, or if I shoud get them right back in the soil.
Well I put them in their new home last week, and no sign of shock yet. They have new little pea sized flower buds on them. I don't know at what point after being moved that they would show signs of stress, but they look clueless right now. lol I did cut the pots off and only lost dirt around one of them trying to put it in the hole. All I disturbed were the fine roots. I never lost enough dirt to see the tuber. I think they'll be fine, and come august they will be much happier to have their roots in the semi cool ground instead of baking in black nursery pots.
Good luck with yours GW. I have no idea about the callous thing. I would think you could dust them with sulphur and put them right back in so they don't dry out.
Pinch your blossoms off so the roots continue to settle in.
Very important when transplanting anything that has buds or blooms on.
Maxine
Sounds like you did good. I'll bet your babies are much happier in the ground than in some old nursery pots. They'll really get to stretch out their roots! te he, BTW, I agree with Maxine. I'd pinch off those first buds. They'll thank you for it! :)
gardenwife. I would think that the sooner you can get your peony roots back into the ground the better for the plant. I have moved one or two this time of year and did remove the buds to ease the stress. Donna