Dear All; Germination of peony seeds has more mystique than hard fact, but I'll toss out some observations. Imitate nature. Peony seeds ripen in early fall/late summer and fall to the ground. They germinate the next spring in the shade of their parent or nearby. The best, easiest and laziest method is to follow this lead with NO seed storage. Plant seed as soon as ripen (the seed pod splits open) and allow them the warmth and moisture of mild fall weather, followed by winter chill. Seeds germinate after a warm moist, then cold period. Germination is in two stages, the first a primary root/radicle after the warm moist and the embryo after a cool period i.e. spring warmth. If seeds are stored warm, dry or cold, this cycle is interrupted and germination will be delayed. In a prime situation seed planted in fall can bloom in the third spring following. Expect much variation in species in regard to demand for warmth, cold, duration of each etc. Seed can take as short as 1 month or over 6 months to complete their germination requirements and if delayed expect another year or longer. Sources of tree peonies are few and far between. Prices are somewhat artificially high due to few propagators and few cvs available in the US. Some cvs are harder to graft than others and some are slower to produce their own roots than others so many factors are at work. The major grafters of tree peonies in the US are 'Song Sparrow Nursery', 'Brother's Herbs and Peonies', 'Reath Nursery' and then it goes down to a few here and there. Tree peonies are grafted in higher numbers overseas with Japan probably being foremost, then the UK and various EU countries and Australia (yes Australia). Some of these places offer grafted TP in large (wholesale) numbers for a few dollars each. Grafting itself is a fairly simple process and easily learned, but something of an art to become proficient. Beginners have a very low success rate, but the pros get over 90%. Practice, practice. Seed germination is covered in some detail in 'The Genus Paeonia', grafting in the APS 'Handbook of Peonies'. Good luck. Jim W. ps Jamie mentioned these cvs 'High Noon', 'Kamada Fuji', 'Souvenir de Maxim Cornu' and 'Shimane Chojuraku'. The first is one of the easiest of the Saunder's Lutea hybrids to graft and is usually available cheaply from Japanese sources. "Souvenir" is an early French hybrids that you either like or hate. Huge orange-yellow flowers hide in the foliage and hang down. It is usually sold in the US under the Japanese re-named 'Kinkaku'. These are identical plants. The other two are Japanese cvs, but slightly less common then the others. Jim S. should do fine with any of the Japanese or Saunders cvs. in his situation. The vast majority of hybrids will stay well under 6 ft and most rarely beyond 3 ft. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 E-fax 419-781-8594 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +