Yes, save them! I'd try to leave as much soil on the roots as possible and get them back in the ground ASAP! Leave the foliage, cut off dead blooms, and give them artificial shade for several weeks to try to keep the leaves alive to build up food in the storage roots. Keep the ground moist but not wet or boggy. If the foliage dies all is probably still okay but not as confident in survival. You can use an organic bulb fertilizer in late summer around the drip line, or compost or just your fav fertilzer. If they're herbaceous or Itohs cut the stems back almost to the ground in Sept or Oct, if tree peonies only trim lightly if they need to be shaped but cut nothing that isn't necessary, you'll sacrifice next year's blooms. Good luck, let us know what happens!

Thanks, I hated to waste my time, but sure hate to think I could have saved them and didn't.... I'll give it my best shot.

I don't think you'll lose them, just shade them once transplanted and keep them from drying out. If you can keep the foliage alive until normal dormancy in the fall they'll recover faster. Once the foliage is gone they'll probably go dormant but with it still hot it'll be a balancing act between having rotted roots from too much water and drying them out too much. If you do lose foliage reduce the amount of water but don't stop completely until you get through the hottest part of your season.

Not certain about the watering during the hottest part of the season in the panhandle with your 100+ days. I would be inclined to mulch heavily 8 or nine inches from the stems and only water when they start to droop. With your sandy soil with alkaline conditions watering heavily in heat could form a crust on the soil surface. Not one hundred percent certain that the crust would form but that would be my worry plus cooking the roots.

Yeah, don't want to let them dry out but don't want to water too much, I'd definitely provide shade, something that can be removed after several weeks. Maifleur is right about mulch to help with moisture retention without having to water more often....