The name "Peony's Envy" (yes, a pun on "Penis Envy") should have been the warning. From the moment we arrived, the scene said everything: the owner, a shrill woman, stood at the entrance to her large property, cash jar in hand, shamelessly collecting ten dollars even for infants. Meanwhile, the staff worked in the hot sun doing the actual labor in the gardens.. the perfect image of rustic charm built on someone else's sweat, wrapped in a veneer of virtue. Apparently, even a fleeting snapshot of a bloom was fair game for her cash jar. The trail is short. Mostly I saw bare dirt and only a few struggling blooms. The path runs close to the neighbor's property, giving a clear view into their backyard, and cars coming and going can't be appreciated by neighbors either. One has to wonder if there's even a zoning issue with this setup. When leaving, we tried to avoid the owner but she stopped our exit and insisted we return for the "picnic" event on her lawn, where we could "bring some wine and pretend this is all yours." Talk about grotesque privilege and complete lack of self-awareness. Later, I saw on her website that the "picnic" costs $20 per person with no refreshments or amenities. If you actually appreciate flowers and fairness, in spring go to The Farm at Green Village or the Swamp Greenhouses instead.. huge, amazing peonies, more scenic paths, free or fairly priced entry, and honest work, with none of the pretense. read more

Peony's Envy - Please, read my review. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bernardsville, New Jersey

Their peonies really are to be envied. Their stunning selection requires patience to grow. Easily could take a couple of years to see them surface in full glory. Totally worth the wait! read more

Don't be charmed. I am an experienced peony grower and have a collection of over 65 different varieties. It is easy to be mesmerized by the colorful displays and friendly personality. However, if your plant does not thrive or survive, Kathleen will not offer a replacement or a credit. She will place the blame on you. " You did not water" etc. Totally false. Read the fine print about her guarantee. Her guarantee is a short timeframe. If you purchase from a flower show booth, and it does not live, she will not help you out. I have a few of her peonies that I bought over the years. Her prices are higher than others, and they do not grow as well as other reputable growers. I hope you read my review and a few others which have the same complaint. read more

The divisions I received were well packaged and appear to be of better quality than those sent by Breck's. However, I had repeatedly sent email in advance asking to cancel the order. I was IGNORED. Will never buy from again. Adelman and Cricket Hill FTW. read more

terrible business. i bought 36 peonies and 3 did not come up, all peter brand. molded/rotten. all the others were fine and growing. i put them in the ground immediately after getting them. there is no guarantee to replace after a week which is truly just an asinine practice for plants that take 2-4 weeks to sprout. never again. wished i had read the reviews prior to this purchase because its clearly the pattern of this owner read more

The garden is small and is essentially a woman's backyard in Bernardsville. There are plenty of peonies to see if you catch the blooming season. My friends absolutely loved the grounds. I was a bit underwhelmed. They also have a cutting garden, which is in Basking Ridge All in all, it is a nice experience, but not some thing I would repeat Definitely carpool as there is limited parking read more

Peony's Envy - Peony - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bernardsville, New Jersey

Just visited for a Friday night picnic. The gardens are Gorgeous! I purchased 3 plants and can't wait to plant. There are my favorite flowers! read more

See all

Customers beware: This is the kind of customer service you provide for your expensive peonies? Shame on you, is it really that hard to be a actual professional, address your shortcomings, and make this right? Instead you pull a Karen and blame the customer! You can bet that we will report you to the staff at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show to warn them of your poor business performance. Lastly, I will file claims under BBB AND your state license. read more

Peony's Envy - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bernardsville, New Jersey

See all

All 16 of the bare roots I have bought over the years have bloomed the first year. I followed the directions and used compost when I planted and have been having great success! I just bought two more because you can never have too many peonies! The next part is not having to worry about deer or pests eating them. read more

i bought 6 peonies last fall for $173 . almost $30 a bulb ! only 5 of the six came up. i tried emailing . they never responded! after several phone call attempts, i reached catherine.she told me they only guarantee the bulbs for one week after delivery. it takes all winter with the bulbs in the ground to kknow if they are good.she wont replace or refund. very shifty business practice read more

Got bitten by unleashed human dog there! Be ware! First of all i have to apology for my language, but agree with me after you read our story! Came here this Sunday with our two toddlers(2&3 yrs old). entry fees $10 ppl regardless of age(even for 1 day old baby), this was fine, i even said it's not free to grown flowers! While we were enjoying the peonies and thinking which ones we will cut later, we walk by a huge rock which located off /behind the peony field that my kids wanted to climb on, we followed them and watching them closely, all of a sudden one of the young male employee came behind and ask us not to climb on rock, ok respected that request and started to try to bring our kids down..as soon as we were down, Then he immediately made another comment "also we don't allow photos here!! " We were shocked and ask him no photos for kids?/flowers? no one informed us at the entrance when we paid, plus all the people in the garden are snapping photos! where says no photo can be taken?? Then he goes"its on our website". We were still in a total shock because we dont check your website before coming, so we might said something like "this is ridicules". then the man turn into a human dog, he started to ask us leave the place, and accuse our kids stepping on their flowers( ours kids are not even as tall as their flowers) and says that we are trespassing on their private property and will call POLICE!! How are we trespassing??? we are invited here as paid customers!! We were so disappointed and angry so i tried to talk to a manager/owner, however the owner was not around, but the owner's mother (who is collecting fees at the entrance) said: ITS OK TO TAKE FEW PICTURES as long as you dont have a professional camera! (finally some one reasonable, thank you grandma) But anyways, i read some more bad reviews about this place, besides they don't ship whatever people bought on their website, people have the same issue:rude staff/owner, charge money for no flowers, owner asked people to leave because of their little kids being annoying(for her)! in conclusion: this place is thirsty for money, owner/employees are kids hater and they dont care about customers experience and they all rude like wild dogs that bits! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND DO NOT SUPPORT BUSINESS LIKE THIS! read more

I ordered a tree peony. $155.00 Plus shipping. It was clearly a dead dry stick on arrival. I was told to just give it time. They are not easy to get a hold of, Finally someone did call me back, I assume it was the owner. They behaved as if I never grew a marigold, and I have been growing peonies for over a half century, She finally said I will credit you. I rejected the credit because of the way I was being treated. Might be fine to shop in person, BUT NOT GOOD with mail order. Might have a degree in Botany but haven't a clue on customer relations. The packaging was very nice. read more

Great owner, who is very friendly. We bought a root to take back home to plant - it was pricey but I believe it is worth it. Location is nice. $10 admissions is fine, but for a small toddler, it is hefty. I would recommend finding out when the blooms are in full and then come visit. Photos will not disappoint so take advantage of every photo op you see! Place is huge, but not all blooms are full, so be sure to select your time to visit. Not all areas will bloom at the same time, so expect that some areas are not complete with flowers. I read through some of the reviews and feel sorry that some people have had a bad experience. I think there are many factors to various issues that can arise. It is recommended to read through the website and find information from different sources - ie, home depot, online gardening sites, etc. That way, there is no reliance on just one source. Hope all works out in the end for everyone, though. Meanwhile, I will be back, but will be more vigilante in choosing the right timing to go. There is no one perfect moment where all are in bloom, just need to find when the most preferred areas are in bloom (for photos!) Good luck to all! read more

I placed an order January 16th and got a confirmation email. It's now May 12th and I've heard nothing since. I emailed to inquire where my order is and received no response. Then I called to see if my order was being processed. I got a recorded message saying the mailbox is full, and then the recording hung up. Not a good way to do business. read more

My order was short a few items. When I called, the wonderful owner was very apologetic and promised to make the order right when the new plants come in...I was very pleased with her response read more

Customer Service and guarantee, what costumer service and guarantee? There isn't a guarantee if you buy at one of the Flower Shows where they peddle their goods around the country, even if Kathleen herself is there in the booth telling you "its the last one, it's small, not my best, I'll mark it down and if it doesn't make it contact us and we'll figure out something as I will not have this variety again for a year of so". The only true part was they didn't have any more of that tree peony variety and unfortunately the lone straggler I was stupid enough to buy was apparently dead when I purchased it as it never showed any sign of budding and leafing out. I called them 3 weeks later and they said, 'oh, give it some more time, we're sure it will come along". Well, a month after that, I called back, got nothing but, "we'll have someone call you". Never did, I called back a few weeks later and was told, "sorry". So, you have been warned and from reading other reviews this will not be the first warning. You'll get more for your money buy shopping elsewhere and a guarantee to go with it. read more

Absolute worst experience I have ever had with an online retailer, AVOID AVOID AVOID! They never shipped the merchandise I ordered, ignored emails, finally "apologized" two months later, offered gift certificate in return but never responded to follow-up emails. Do not do business with them under any circumstances. read more

I contacted the owner I. Hopes that she could help me ID a tree peony that I inherited from my grandmother. I received a very kind reply and the ID! Since I live in NJ and wanted to ass more peonies to my hardenC I drove out and spent a very pleasant afternoon chatting with Kathleen and brought home six new roots. She was very generous with her time and knowledge and despite the rain and the plants going into dormancy, I feel this was a terrific experience and don't understand the negative reviews. read more

Let me tell you the story behind these beautiful flowers. A couple of weeks ago I asked my local gardening group where I should go locally to get Peonies (my favorite flower). Some of the members told me about Peony's Envy in Bernardsville NJ. Today we decided to take a family trip to this lovely garden and the flowers were not the only beautiful thing there. My mother in law is staying with us as she recovers from surgery. When we got to the farm, my kids jumped out of the car and I chased after them. My husband got his mom out of the car and stated walking slowly and carefully with her over the unpaved parking lot. After about 10 min, I noticed my husband had made it up the hill but his mother could not so she decided to wait in the car. The owner of the property (Kathleen) was standing near us as my husband explained to me what happened. She respectfully started talking to us and when she learned why it was difficult for my MIL to make the walk from the parking lot onto the property she insisted on moving the entry table, her vehicle and opening the gate just so we could bring our car up the driveway! She told us to have my MIL sit on the garden chairs and would not take no for an answer Kathleen rearranged the entire entrance and my husband moved our car and brought his mother to the beautiful seating area. 5 min later, Kathleen came to the table with these freshly cut peonies for my mother in law. I just started gardening but never would have imagined I would see this kind of beauty in character. read more

Peony's Envy - Beautiful flowers from a beautiful soul. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Bernardsville, New Jersey

This was our first visit. Hardly anything was in bloom. They took our money to allow access for us to walk 7 acres of sticks. The ethical thing to do would have been to either waive the admission fee or maybe not be open to the public yet. I probably would have purchased bulbs or something if I didn't feel like I got ripped off for the admission fee. It definitely felt like a money grab. They were selling bouquets for $75, which seemed like a lot. Very disappointing. Not sure I'll go back. read more

I wanted to like this business- as a fellow New Jerseyan and a female business owner. However, if I could give 0 stars I would. Like most of the other reviewers, we too had a very similar harrowing experience with this grower. This woman is a narcissist, spending most of a customer service phone call talking about all things HER, makes empty promises, goes back on her word and when confronted in person, refuses to speak to you- sending out a minion to deal the problem with the least customer-focused resolution possible. To add to all of that- her vocal and written instruction on planting and transplanting lead to the death of all 12 of the peonies I purchased from her. This business owner is completely incompetent, tone deaf and out of touch with how customer satisfaction drives future sales. Save yourself the headache and review the APS (American Peony Society) website to find a different grower that will fit your needs. read more

I was given a gift certificate for Christmas, but due to website changes, I have not been able to use the gift certificate. I have emailed this business 5-6+ times. their Instagram, the owners phone number for them to contact me to place an order since the business does not have a customer service phone number. I have not received a response, making the $100 gift card a useless piece of paper and we are past planting season. I filed a complaint with the BBB of NJ, informed the business to please just refund the cost of certificate, and still no response. Honestly shocking & shameful way to conduct business and they have essentially stolen $100. read more

Vendor does not stand behind her product. Problems are ignored; she does not answer emails. I purchased peonies from Peony's Envy the last 3 years in a row at the Antique and Garden Fair at the Chicago Botanic Garden. 4 the first year and 2 the second, 2 this last year. Total of 8. The 2 Buckeye Belle I purchased in 2014 were the most expensive, at $ 34 each. The color scheme I was planting was white and red, to accompany existing Festiva Maxima peonies I had bought from someone else in 2012. I was disappointed when 2 did not survive to 2015. I talked to her about it at the 2015 fair, and she said they must be just sleeping, give them more time. They were dead. I bought 2 more as replacements in 2015 (more fool me). One of those did not survive to 2016. I am not an inexperienced gardener: rather, I have gardened for over 35 years. So the deaths are not my fault. I was still waiting for the supposed Buckeye Belle to bloom, however. This year it finally had one flower, blooming AFTER the April Chicago Garden Fair so I could not complain in person. It is most definitely NOT Buckeye Belle. I posted on a gardening forum for confirmation. It is some kind of bomb type in magenta, which I could have bought anywhere. Common as dirt. I am very disappointed, especially considering I paid a premium price from a specialist grower to have something that should have been rare and unique. The other "Buckeye Belle" has not bloomed yet, and had no buds, so I have no way of telling if that one too is misidentified. Based on the track record of this company's peonies of half of those purchased either dead or misidentified, I am not too confident that it is. I requested a refund or replacement. None of my emails have been answered. It's time for her to answer and do the right thing. read more

Gosh, I don't know what to say...I obsessed over planting my baby peony tubers Easter weekend. I wish I could say these plants are healthy: end of day, they are NOT. I am trying hard not to lose 3 of 6, and that is after reading literature, watching videos of master gardeners from England, Holland, and all over the U.S. teach me how to plant them correctly. After I noticed botrytis taking over days after the sweet little stems began to sprout (despite textbook soil, drainage, "safe distancing" between my containers, and light conditions), I thought it would make sense to circle back to the owner. Something was not right. The owner seemed to resent answering questions about fungal disease. I received dismissive, one-word answers by email, which surprised me, considering she had offered some advice early on. Frankly, for spending over $150 on 6 tubers (3 unhealthy!), I do expect more from a customer service perspective: she can't be "that" busy, or that worn down from a few requests from the same customer! I was not being a pest! The little town where it is located is GORGEOUS and the street is very cute leading up to the house/business, but it's probably not worth it...I think I paid for charm and the clever marketing instead of on adequately healthy plants. I note there is a no return policy even though there is a "guarantee" plants are healthy when they leave the nursery. I beg to differ. read more

I loved my experience with Peony's Envy! I purchased peonies online as a gift to myself; I guess this doesn't happen every day, so they called to make sure I left the correct gift message at my purchase. In the end, along with my peonies, I received a lovely card with warm messages from their crew. Made my day. Thank you Kathleen and your team for the love and for sharing beauty to the world! read more

I came in yesterday after my graduation to see the garden. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower of all time so I was excited to find a peony garden close to nyc. It was smaller than I was expecting. It took us about 20 mins to walk through the entire thing. But it was so beautiful!! The owner was very nice, she even gave me and my friend some peonies to take home and congratulated me on my graduation. I will more than likely return next year for one of the festivities. read more

Wow - I am frankly shocked by the other reviews on here. Peony's Envy is known throughout the United States as one of the premier peony sellers. They even appeared on the Martha Stewart show. I am within an hours drive of the place, so we took a trip this spring to see the tree peonies. Tree peonies are an earlier bloomer of the more common herbaceous species. The property was pretty spectacular if you're into peonies. Hundreds upon hundreds of varieties. The owner was very friendly, helpful and happy to answer any questions. Her prices are a flat rate - $30 for herbaceous and $60 for tree peonies. What this means is that the more common varieties are expensive for what they are, but the rare ones are a pretty good deal. Have some variety knowledge and be able to tell the difference. I have ordered plants from various places in the past (not from here) and have just found mail order to be a bit of a crap shoot with a 50-75% survival rate. Fine if you're getting a great deal, not so much if you're paying top dollar, so if this is what happened to the other reviewers - I feel their pain. We bought a more rare herbaceous peony, and she ended up sending us home with two large buckets full of (more common) plants for free saying she was happy they were going to a "loving home." We were glad to take them. She was a very lovely woman and I would be happy to drive there to see her, and her beautiful plants again. read more

Every year I travel to garden shows around the nation, but mainly in the South and Midwest. I have run across Peony's Envy selling at some of these garden or home type shows over the past few years. At a show in February 2022, I purchased a very expensive tree peony from them. Was told by the owner, Kathleen Gagan, who was working this show, that the plant was small but would do fine. Unfortunately, it didn't. It never came out of dormancy. I have a garden full of herbaceous, intersectional and tree peonies, so I know I can grow them. So, I felt it wasn't my lack of knowledge of growing peonies that lead to the plant in question not growing. I have contacted Peony's Envy 5 times by e-mail, getting responses the first 2 times saying that it would grow, please be patient. Since the then I have heard nothing from them. Needless to say, at future shows I attend I will walk by Kathleen's booth without stopping. Not stopping and/or shopping at a plant booth at these events is nearly impossible for a plant person. But, it seems Peony's Envy doesn't care about retaining old customers so I can only imagine how a new customer that might have a problem with a plant(s) they purchased would be treated. I have waited months doing a review like this because I seem to have faith in people doing the right thing, especially plant people. Guess I've been proven wrong this time. Consider yourself warned about the lack of customer service from Peony's Envy. There are other peony sellers that would appreciate your hard earned money. read more

Ordered Festiva Maxima bulbs in 2017. Festiva Maxima is a white flower with a red center. They finally bloomed and they are the pink Whoppers. Very disappointed. read more

Though I paid top dollar for a peony at the last NE Flower Show, thinking I was buying a higher quality peony, I won't do that again. When I expressed frustration that it didn't do so well the first year and didn't come up at all this summer (after following their instructions to the letter), I was told it was my fault somehow. I think I'll stick to local nurseries from now on - or even K-mart (where I've never had a problem with peonies in the past). At least they'll stand behind their product! read more

Heard back from them a few months after I wrote my initial review and they finally refunded. I don't know what was happening in the interim.

Wow. This was a bizarre experience We drove from Morristown through Mendham into Bernardsville losing signal the whole way. Beautiful drive.. We did find the Peony garden and parked. My wife and I put on our masks and walked into Peony Envy. Thats where the crazy started. A woman (Im assuming the owner) said masks and gloves in an edgy way. She said she was selling gloves. I walked back to the car to get gloves for us. My wife was 50 feet from anyone and the owner started shouting at her ma'am, put your mask on. ( my wife was holding her mask at this point). Still there wasn't anyone 50 feet from her. The owner yelled ma'am put on your mask. My wife said why, I'm not near anyone. I'm waiting for my husband. Rhe owner said wait at the end of the driveway. My wife started walking down the driveway and she started up again screaming maam put on your mask! We decided to leave and not support this crazy woman. I smelled crazy when we first arrived. I work locally and will spread the word. read more

I got a herbaceous one many years ago ,it is doing great, no ants. Last year got a tree peony and got very large blooms this year. This year we got more for family and friends. read more

See all

I bought 2 herbaceous peonies 3 years ago at the Philadelphia Flower Show. I specifically spoke with the owner about what I was looking for, and purchased what was supposed to be fat conclubine, a white peony. As the company's website states, it took 3 years to bloom, but when it did, it was an unattractive pink peony with no scent. I have emailed Peony's Envy twice since it bloomed, and received no response. They do not give a phone number on their website, which is very unhelpful, but I found it here. I will try calling, but I am not pleased with what I purchased, or the lack of a response to my inquiries. If I make any progress, I will update this review. read more

My husband took me on a date to Peony's Envy, and was so pleasantly surprised! We arrived and paid a nominal fee to tour the gardens and was in awe of all of the flowers - it was such a special experience! After we walked around the farm, we spoke with the owners for quite some time and loved learning about Peony's Envy and about them as well! What a great team of people there and what a fun experience! On Friday's they are open until 7 during the spring/summer and looking forward to going back again with a picnic blanket and a bottle of wine to sit down on the lawn of the property or amongst all of the peonies in the garden! We can't wait to have a place of our own to buy the plants from them and put in a small garden of our own! Check them out!!! You'll be happy you did! read more

Doesn't feel like New Jersey. The owner is very knowledgeable and willing to share her expertise. Interesting variety of peonies.

Horrible. Very dishonest owner who will not respond to emails and her voicemail was full for months. Save yourself the expense and the extreme irritation and do not buy anything from them. It had been over 7 months since placing the order, never received it and owner did not respond to my 6 emails and 3 voicemails (had to call for months to get through to an actual voicemail). In the end had to get credit card company involved. Who runs a business like this and sleeps at night??? Yuk. read more

I just came from Peony's Envy - gardens are lovely, owner is great, knowledgeable and helpful. I am a proud owner of 6 heirloom peony plants. Could not be happier! read more

After again getting the run around again from Peony's Envy, I mad a complaint to the Better Business Bureau of New Jersey. Peony's Envy contacted me within a few days of receiving a notice from the BBB(the FIRST time they have ever reached out to me to resolve this). They gave me the same litany of excuses(that they were in their busy season, that they were having trouble delivering to my address, etc) and promised I would receive my order immediately. More than two weeks later, nothing has arrived from them nor have they contacted me. This business is either entirely incompetent or thoroughly dishonest. Avoid doing business with them. read more

I spent a considerable amount on peonies from this grower ($$$) on a couple of years spanand I have been very disappointed in the results. Most died, with just one maybe 2 surviving. They are quite expensive and there is virtually no warranty on the plants once you buy them. Go to reputable catalog companies to buy your peonies, and if you're not particularly looking for an exotic, go to the big box stores. read more