The Tenacious Gardener!

It's always nice to get a surprise in the post isn't it!
Well look what came for me yesterday

OK It shouldn't really have come as a surprise but I ordered these bulbs months ago knowing (at the time) that the dispatch date wouldn't be until March but as time has gone by I completely forgot about them, until yesterday......surprise!
The best bit about these bulbs is that they were FREE via a 'Gardeners world' magazine offer (I often go for those offers as they're good value and quality plants), I just had to pay £5.60 for p&p.
So what are the bulbs..................................



Paeonia 'Karl Rosenfield'

http://www.vivaipriola.it/paeonia-lactiflora-karl-rosenfield.html

Paeonia 'Shirley Temple'

http://www.nemesia.co.uk/paeonia-shirley-temple-127-p.asp

Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt'

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paeonia_lactiflora_%27Sarah_Bernhardt.jpg

Gorgeous huh!
I already have a Sarah bernhardt that grows in a pot and flowered for the first time last year - absolutely beautiful.
I've never dared to plant it outside though in case the winter kills it off as they like to be planted fairly shallow (I'm not one for sticking to winter protection methods) so I'm thinking if I plant these into large enough pots I could then sink the pot into the soil and lift them out for winter.
Paeonia hate to be disturbed and can take a few years to settle and flower so lifting the corms every year is just going to really pee it off.
I'm not the most patient of gardeners though and I dislike anything that doesn't produce worthy flowers in the first year so this is going to be quite testing for me - as are the Hollyhocks I recently sowed as I get no flowers until next year!