Comments regarding Peony's Envy

Absolute worst experience I have ever had with an online retailer, AVOID AVOID AVOID! They never shipped the merchandise I ordered, ignored emails, finally "apologized" two months later, offered gift certificate in return but never responded to follow-up emails. Do not do business with them under any circumstances.

Posted on March 28, 2013, updated October 8, 2019
I ordered several peonies two seasons ago, along with several from a different company, and they were all planted the same way in the same general location. When they came up, I was very surprised at how small and scrawny the peonies were from Peony's Envy. I've never received such disappointing peony roots (and I have a lot of peonies).

Curious, I looked on their website and found a warning that it will take many years for peonies to grow well and flower. Yes, of course they take time, but it's all relative. Good roots will give you good results. These are just not good quality roots!

I wrote them an email informing them of how poor the plant material was and I received an email to the effect of "we're sorry you were disappointed." That was it; lousy roots and lousy customer service.

The peonies are coming up again this year and the difference between the ones from the other company (5-6 stems) and Peony's Envy (0-2 stems) is striking.

I sent an email asking for a list of my purchases. SHE emailed back asking for a phone number which I sent, but said DO NOT CALL. Shortly I got a phone call. The woman is stupid and I still don't know what I have bought from her. No problem, just won't do business with Peony Envy again and judging by the preponderance of negatives, no one should

Vendor does not stand behind her product.
Problems are ignored: she does not answer emails.

I purchased peonies from Peony’s Envy the last 3 years in a row at the Antique and Garden Fair at the Chicago Botanic Garden. 4 the first year and 2 the second, 2 this last year. Total of 8. The 2 Buckeye Belle I purchased in 2014 were the most expensive, at $ 34 each.

The color scheme I was planting was white and red, to accompany existing Festiva Maxima peonies I had bought from someone else in 2012.

I was disappointed when 2 did not survive to 2015. I talked to her about it at the 2015 fair, and she said they must be just sleeping, give them more time. They were dead. I bought 2 more as replacements in 2015 (more fool me). One of those did not survive to 2016. I am not an inexperienced gardener: rather, I have gardened for over 35 years. So the deaths are not my fault.

I was still waiting for the supposed Buckeye Belle to bloom, however. This year it finally had one flower, blooming AFTER the April Chicago Garden Fair so I could not complain in person. It is most definitely NOT Buckeye Belle. I posted on a gardening forum for confirmation. It is some kind of bomb type in magenta, which I could have bought anywhere. Common as dirt. I am very disappointed, especially considering I paid a premium price from a specialist grower to have something that should have been rare and unique. The other "Buckeye Belle" has not bloomed yet, and had no buds, so I have no way of telling if that one too is misidentified.

Based on the track record of this company’s peonies of half of those purchased either dead or misidentified, I am not too confident that it is.

I requested a refund or replacement. None of my emails have been answered. It’s time for her to answer and do the right thing.

The peonies are expensive but I really wanted a substantial red peony. It bloomed the second year and was pink, other folks coming to visit our garden noticed the lovely pink peony. I called the company, I emailed them and NEVER heard back. VERY unhappy with the company.

Seriously problematic company, in my opinion. I ordered bareroot peonies from them in February including payment for priority mail delivery. When they didn't arrive 3 weeks later, I called and was told they don't ship out orders until March. Fine. When my order didn't arrive by the end of April, I made another inquiry -- lots of phone calls and email with a lot of confusion and no result. One day their parcel arrived -- it was in transit for 38 days; I assume they used some sort of bulk ground shipping method. I refused to accept the plants that were so compromised and went through another series of futile phone calls and email messages. I sent the plants back and waited for a replacement for .... 45 days. I had to file a complaint with the credit card company regarding this transaction. When plants arrived in July it was obviously too late for bare root planting and they have already sprouted. Because they were in a horizontal box, all buds came on one side making the future brunches crooked. I planted them anyway, I just couldn't deal with another round of dealings with this woman.

First, the good news: the owner was extremely knowledgeable and helpful on the telephone, and there is a lot of very good information on the website - probably the best we've seen about tree peonies. The bad news: we have been ordering tree peonies from another seller for years, and usually buy five-year-old plants. This year that seller was sold out of five-year-old plants, so we ordered from Peony's Envy. The website gives pictures of the flowers, but says nothing about price or age of the plants. When we talked to the owner on the telephone, she assured us that the plants we were ordering were beautiful five-old-plants. When they arrived, they were tiny - about 1/6 the size of the five-year-old plants from the other seller. We had ordered a few two-year-old plants from the other seller, and these were barely bigger. We paid over $100 a plant, somewhat more than we were used to paying. She offers no guarantees, refunds, or exchanges. We have planted the peonies (very deeply, according to her instructions). They are barely visible above ground, but we hope this method will produce vigorous plants some day soon.

Posted on August 26, 2012, updated November 17, 2012
I bought herbaceous peonies at Peony's Envy's stall at the Philadelphia Flower Show, after speaking with Kathleen about exactly what I wanted. One of them was a white, full peony, and she recommended and supposedly sold me Fat Concubine. When it bloomed the expected 3 years later, however, it was light pink and not very hardy. I tried emailing her more than once, with no response. I tried calling and left a message, with no response. I am a member of the PA Horticultural Society, and they contacted her on my behalf. I was supposed to get a call from Kathleen "right away" after the representative of the Society spoke with her, but it's a week later, and I never received a call. Good customer service is just as important as good quality plants, and I will never buy from this vendor again.

I purchased 3 tree peonies from this company. Planted them soon after they arrived. The following Spring 2 did not come up. I contacted the company and was told they needed to review my planting/growing conditions. I responded that I have 1,125 tree peonies growing in my field - I might know how to grow them. No replacement. The following Spring the 3rd tree peony failed to grow. She has good hype - but a good company must stand for their product, not just take money from trusting people.

I ordered a peony root, a Chinese tree peony and a Rockii tree peony.
The peony root arrived late October and was like a rectangular block of root - no real roots.
I never received either of the tree peonies.
I emailed the address on their website three times (late October & mid and late November) asking when the tree peonies would be shipped - no reply. I called their phone number and left a message requesting information - no reply.
It is now after the first week in December and I filed a dispute with my credit card company asking for a refund of the two $99 peonies plus the shipping.
Do NOT order from this company.