I really need help with peonies, please!!!

My sister-in-law was going to shovel prune her peony bushes this fall. She agreed to leave them in place until I could go dig them up, which I did yesterday.

Here's my dilemma - I won't have their permanent bed ready until next spring. I've divided and potted them up into six large plastic pots, and I'm wondering if I should put them in the crawlspace where they'll be protected from freezing?

Or do they need sunlight this winter? I really don't have a convenient spot to sink the pots outside, although I could dig up some sod if that's the best route to take with them. Please help - they're so beautiful, and I hate to lose them before they even have a chance to make it.

a friend recently sent me some peony. have no previous experience with them... this will be my 1st time to care for them. not knowing what variety they are, neither do i know if they are herbaceous or tree peony>>> i just planted them on 15 gal. pots. the 'eyes' about 1" below ground level inside the pot. here are some url that might help... http://www.peonies.org/cgi-bin/galleryABC.cgi
http://www.goldenport.com/peony/tpcare.htm
http://www.goldenport.com/peony/hpcare.htm
http://www.peonies.org/
http://www.botany.com/paeonia.html

Thanks, MaVieRose :) I had looked at a couple of those sites already, and it seems they all focus on transplanting from one planting hole to the next, without any mention of potting them up.

I know what I'm doing is probably not the optimal way to handle them, but I'm hoping/guessing it's better than putting hem in crummy soil surrounded by Bermuda grass, then digging them up again in the spring while we prepare a permanent bed for them.

I see peonies sold in pots all over the place in the spring, so I know it can be done, I just don't know the best way to care for them through the winter. I'm pretty sure leaving them in pots outside with no protection will kill them (our winters can get pretty nippy, especially at night. I do have another option I didn't mention above, and that would be to set them in the greenhouse for the winter. I just don't know if they will be okay without any winter chill. Ugh!!!!

Go Vols
Let them go dormant in your crawl space but make sure to keep them watered.

When you replant them in the spring make sure they are set at the same depth as when they were dug. If they are planted shallower or deeper chances are tehy will not bloom.

Paul

Probably of all the choices, I'd say digging the pots into the sod over the winter would probably be best. I think they do need the cold, and I know from experience that if you stick them in a pot and leave it out all winter they will croak - silly plants, didn't they know I wanted them alive??? Of course, my winters are somewhat worse than your's, but it would probably be best just to dig them in and toss some leaves over them.

This is what I truly love about gardeners, and DG in particular. Without ya'll, I don't know what I would have finally resorted to - the real-life experience and quick answers are so great!

After I read Paulgrow and Kathleen's advice, it dawned on me. I have a spot in a bed that is waiting for a new Camellia (and THAT plant choice is thanks to Horseshoe and Deed); in the meantime, it's dormant. I had already raked pine needles onto this area, but there it was - a stretch ten feet long of easy-digging, grass-free soil. The bed is between the driveway and the brick wall of the house, so it stays pretty warm. But it gets chilled enough for its previous tenants, irises, to reliably bloom, so I think it'll be a perfect heeling-in spot for the peonies. I sure hope so, because they're already nestled in so the lid of the pots are at ground level, the plants watered, and everything's mulched with the pine needles. Thanks so much, ya'll!!!!!

LOL Go-Vols, sounds perfect.