Getting Started

Peony Select grows and brokers for other growers in both Kansas and Missouri. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you about becoming a member of our family of select peony growers.

What we bring to you is a way to make money from what you do best....GROW! We will teach you all about peonies,: location, where they will prosper, planting, cultural requirements (what they need to thrive), how and when to pick, and how to handle post-harvest.

Peony Select requires each grower to participate in a free two class program:

The Grower Class...everything about peonies is discussed

• selection
• planting
• maintaining

The Commercial Grower Class...recognizing

• problems
• when to pick
• how to process after picking
• grading peony stems
• packing stems

Technical Support is provided by current growers; Kansas State University Research Station Floriculture, Dr. Alan Stevens, Extension Leader; Dr. Ted Carey, Researcher and Community Outreach Director; and world recognized peony breeders extraordinaire Don Hollingsworth and Luke Hudson of Hollingsworth Nursery in Maryville, MO. In addition,Peony Select Director, Jo Anne Thomas, is a member of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers and the American Peony Society.

Peony Select will share all the most current thoughts on peonies and market preferences, but you will choose which peonies you will grow. We will give you all the wholesale nursery contacts we've used, and our growers will readily be available to share their experiences and selection choices.

Peonies take three to four years to develop into a mature plant, ready to produce enough stems to pick and enough to provide food for the next year's blooms. The size of the root planted and other environmental issues determine when the plant is ready.

Minimum flower commitment is 500 plants.