Peonies as a Long-Term Investment
** This article is for informational purposes only and not intended as financial or investment advice. Please consult with a financial advisor for your specific situation. **
A super quick backstory:
I’m in my mid-forties and my husband is eligible to retire in 5ish years, so retirement and future planning is a popular topic during morning coffee.
As a regular contributor to traditional retirement accounts, I’ve been on the hunt for new investments (and tax savings) beyond your normal 401k and IRA.
Ok, now let’s get into it…
One Saturday morning, I was explaining to my husband the future value of the 4,000 peony roots already planted on our farm. Not the value in the flowers they produce each spring which is what most think about, but the value in the roots that are multiplying underground with time. That's when he suggested, “Why don’t you just plant more of them on our property? Use the peonies as the investment you’ve been looking for.” (How thankful am I to have a husband who truly believes in this flower thing?)
I immediately grabbed a piece of scrap paper and started crunching the numbers, and what I found was eye-opening. Let’s break it down.
The Numbers: Turning Peony Roots into a 6-figure Investment
If you purchase 2,500 peony roots at $8 each, your initial investment in roots will total $20,000. (You’ll also have the costs of ground prep if needed.) Prices vary, but $8 per root is a solid average for wholesale costs, including freight. Now, here’s where the magic happens:
Plant the 2,500 roots and let them grow for 10 years. By then, the original 3-5 eye root will likely develop into a 15-30 eye root, but for this example, let's keep it conservative at 15 eyes. (You can learn more about planting here.)
Split the roots: After 10 years, each 15-eye root can be divided into at least four new 3-5 eye roots. This means your 2,500 original roots turn into 10,000 roots.
Retail price: Assuming around a 4x mark-up of the original $8 cost, each root would sell for around $30.
The potential income: With 10,000 roots selling at $30 each, you’re looking at a potential revenue of $300,000. That’s a 15x return on your initial $20,000 investment!
Peonies vs. Traditional Investments: The Comparison
If you invested the same $20,000 into the stock market at a 10% annual return, you’d have approximately $52k after 10 years. Compare that to the $300,000 potential from peonies—it’s a no-brainer!
Even if things don’t go perfectly, and you only make half the projected amount, you’re still looking at $150,000, which is over a 7x return on your investment.
What About Costs and Labor?
You might be wondering about the labor and additional costs involved in growing peonies. Here’s the good news: it’s minimal, especially for a perennial like peonies.
Planting and digging: There’s a few weeks of back-breaking labor to get them in the ground initially and another round to dig them up. Additionally, you'll need to clean, split, and package the roots prior to selling.
Maintenance: Between years 1 and 10, you’ll need to mow and clear the field each fall, possibly install irrigation if rain is insufficient (though ours have never been irrigated), and apply fungicides or weed prevention as needed. Overall, peonies are remarkably low-maintenance.
Harvesting: It will be up to you whether you harvest the flowers or not. If you choose to harvest, you’ll have 3-4 busy weeks or harvesting, processing, storing, marketing and selling each spring. Call me crazy, but I won’t prioritize selling the flowers because I’m in it for what’s underground. It’s a HUGE mindset shift to think of a peony field as an investment versus a crop.
Selling the roots: And most importantly, you need a market to sell these roots. But I can help with that! Sales and marketing is my jam and what I teach in my signature program, Muddy Business.
Additional Considerations for Your Peony Investment
Flexible Harvesting: You don't have to dig up all the roots in year 10. Harvest and sell them as needed.
Flower Harvest: This investment doesn’t factor in the potential income from cutting and selling peony blooms over the years. Add that into the mix, and the numbers become even more impressive.
A Legacy Investment: Instead of selling the roots, you could enjoy the income from the blooms and pass the root stock down to your kids.
With all this in mind, I’m looking to plant even more peonies—rows upon rows of these stunning perennials. If you’re ready to explore the costs, labor, and varieties in more detail, be sure to check out Peonies for Profit.