They'll survive the hot summers but they won't come back up and bloom b/c the winters are too mild.

Check your local county extension service for the chilling hours where you live. If you have more than 400 hours you should be able to grow peonies and have them bloom. They will need to be planted so high the top of the root is exposed through the winter. Al

I don't think that there will be any problem with chill hours in Orlando. I was south of there in October and November a couple of years ago and froze my what ever off.

I would be worried that the soil could be too acid. A peat belt from the old swamps runs through part of Florida. Have the soil tested and purchase the cheapest plant you can find to try to see if it will grow in your area. If it will and does nicely, try some others.

Tree peonies should do real except along the coast because they need less chill than regular ones.

This chart from Accuweather.com doesn't look too encouraging. You can't rely on the occasional unseasonably cold weather.

Here is a link that might be useful: Accuweather Chart

If I recall correctly, I never used to see them in southern CA when I lived there, though the winter nights are frequently in the forties or even lower in some locations. Central Florida is doubtful, I'd guess!

The problem with winter chilling in places like Florida is that the hours don't accumulate like they do elsewhere. There are too many days in winter with temps above 60°, which causes them to lose hours already accumulated, at least as far as I understand chilling hours. The only way to get a peony to bloom in places like Orlando is to keep them in a pot, and refrigerate the pot for 6 or so weeks. Now, having a refrigerator big enough to do that is going to be tricky! Maybe a florist would be willing to keep a 5-gallon potted peony in their cooler during the winter, who knows.

Anyway, that's how the Chinese in Singapore and other tropical places get to have peonies, they're chilled for them in coolers and brought out in time for them to bloom.

--Ron

All of us Central Floridians who came here from more northern climates miss the peonies. And the lilacs and the hostas. We've tried and once in a while we can get them to grow for a season or two. But it's Zone Denial.
We are not consistently cold enough for long enough for peonies. And the summers are too wet for too long.
Sorry Nami, but they just don't do well here.
(My Spice rose cutting is looking healthy! How's Smith's Parrish?)
Kate