WHY ARE PEONY SPECIES SO HARD TO FIND?
There are a number of reasons that peony species are difficult to find. Probably the first being that they are not as adapted to rapid propagation methods as the long domesticated Garden Peony, P. lactiflora varieties. The root mass tends to be altogether smaller and often the main crown is connected by a long neck that does not divide into what would be a neat 3-5 eye division. The roots are more dahlia like in outward appearance in some of them and must be handled much more carefully from digging through packing and are very intolerant of being stored wet. Often times the roots are not growing directly under the crown of the plant resulting in more damage during harvest which results in fewer divisions to market. Some species like Paeonia veitchii have a very tight woody crown that is very difficult to divide cleanly without doing a lot of damage. In this species case the best plants seem to be young first time blooming seedlings that have been grown to maturity which takes from 5-7
