I know. It is very difficult when one person's experience is so different to other peoples. I was not trying to troll you, just saying what has happened to me.
I have a friend who grows more Paeonies than I have ever been able to afford and she has no trouble getting them to flower soon after planting either.
Strangely the ones which I have had which have been slow to settle have been the ones I bought growing in pots rather than as bare roots.
Now getting Gladiolus to flower, that is a different matter.
The fascinating thing about gardening is the unpredictability of plants, they sometimes flourish where they "shouldn't" and sulk where they should be happy. I bought 10 bare roots in about April ( a special offer of £15 I couldn't resist), and left them in a container with old compost for a couple of weeks while I dug a new bed for them in sun. Gave away 3, planted 7, all doing well and 4 flowered beautifully. Only trouble is nothing was labelled so I don't know what colour the others are going to be!
According to the person I know who is really into Paeonies, their bad reputation is down to Kelway's owner of many years ago who when asked about moving them claimed that they were not happy being moved. He did it so that people would buy more plants rather than split them up or take them with them when they moved house.
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