About Us

Peony's Envy is a nursery and display garden in Bernardsville, New Jersey within easy access of New York City and Philadelphia. Peony's Envy offers one of the most extensive collections of tree, herbaceous and intersectional peonies in the Northeast.

Peony's Envy ships peonies nationwide from September through May; attends flower shows and horticultural events nationwide throughout the year; and opens its nursery and display garden to the public in New Jersey for the spring planting and bloom season and again in the fall for bare root sales.

The gardens are laid out over an 7-acre property with trails that meander throughout the peony collections. Four major types of peonies are highlighted in the garden: woodland, tree, herbaceous, and intersectional. Over 700 different cultivars planted in the garden, each of which will bloom for a period of 7-10 days over a six week bloom period. The bloom sequence opens with the woodland and tree peonies and is followed by the herbaceous and intersectional bloom. The largest array of color comes during the herbaceous peony bloom, which weather dependent, often corresponds with Memorial Day. Cool weather will prolong the bloom, hot weather and heavy rain will shorten the bloom.

See our Catalog for the most recent peony selection and our Events page for the current listing of shows and events that we travel to across the country.

Kathleen Gagan, owner of Peony's Envy, is a linguist and international corporate communications consultant turned lady farmer. After a successful life overseas, where she became fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, Kathleen returned home to New Jersey to a life as an entrepreneur. She grows peonies because of their resilience, deer-resistance, and beauty. Kathleen has studied horticulture at the Barnes Foundation, and writes and lectures on peonies nationwide.