I have a herbacious peony (Bowl of Beauty). How will it do in sandy loam? I live in Grandview (40 mi. south of Fort Worth) (Johnson Co).

Also, what do I do if I want to use it as a potted plant?

Ck the following web sites. Maybe they will help.

http://www.americanpeonysociety.org/

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1153.html

Well I haven't had much of a response to my Peony question. I can report that so far my "Bowl of Beauty' is doing great. It will be interesting to see how it blooms in the spring.

Please let us know how it does. I've never had much luck with peonies blooming here. I was told that the winters aren't cold enough -- but then I've been told lots of other things about gardening that didn't turn out to be true! I love peonies and would love to try them again.

I have brought back some peony roots from my mother's farm in southern Illinois. For sentimental reasons, of course, I would very much like to know if they will grow & bloom here in the Ft. Worth area, or should I leave them in the pot they are now growing in?

We have some of my wife's grandmother's peonies. First year last year, came back this year. No blooms yet, but the plant is very very small still.

I have peonies from northern IL seeded in two beds and a pot in my backyard here. Up north, we took the peonie seeds inside (in a brown lunch bag) for the winter and planted them when the temperatures were routinely in the 80's (about early to mid summer up there).

Here, my peonies seed themselves every year. I found the trick here is to keep them moist (not wet) through the winter. It is not necessary to bring them inside (except the potted ones), because we don't get a hard freeze in the ground down here. Hope this helps!

Well, I know that this is only the first year for my very young "Bowl of Beauty" peony. It has remained small and appears healthy. It has not yet produced any blooms. All information that I have been able to gather indicates that peonies will not be very productive in Texas. It appeas that the plants will grow but will not produce blooms.

I will post again if mine blooms.

I have one of my late father's peonies which I brought from his garden in Nebraska. His peonies always produced huge, heavy blooms. I have resigned myself to the idea that I won't see that kind of thing here in Texas, but for sentimental reasons I am always pleased to see a few flowers each spring. The colder the winter, the better the subsequent flowering. If it should snow, I pile up some extra snow around the peony. When we have some winter nights with below-freezing temperatures, I heap ice around the perimeter of the peony bed to make those cold temperatures last into the next day and give the roots a good chill.

My neighbors had never seen peonies in bloom before, but would now like to try peonies themselves. Early-season peonies are the best bet in Texas.

I'm from KS & we always had a peonie bed that was beautiful. I wanted to plant them here & was told they would not bloom due to warm winters. I read that you could place bags of ice on the beds & this would encourage blooming. Seemed like your efforts might go unrewarded...
Plano Patty

I have about 9 peonie plants...this is their second season....they are small, never bloom.....I assume they are a cold climate plant......