Looks like they are tree peonies or at least the one in the second picture is one of what is called a tree peony. It forms woody branches which makes for great wintertime interest in the garden. The top one has me puzzled as I can think of no tree peony that has that coloration on the stems. Toward the bottom middle there does appear to be a tree peony stem, brown stem and I can see where one of the other stems are red fading to brown toward the bottom. You may have a species lutea tree peony but I have only seen the green stemmed type. Lucky you to have some already planted for you.

Edited to add that dark pearl is the seed of the tree peony. It may or may not grow if planted in the soil but it normally takes 4+ years before it is old enough to bloom.

They are all the same tree I was trying to get a good photo. Luckily we have lots of them all over the garden. Is it normal for all the stems to collapse? I live in the UK so it's winter here!! If it is normal do I have to cut them back at all

When plants are subjected to lower temperatures/frost the soft stems will wilt like these have. Once the temperatures become colder/freeze the soft stems will harden and shrink with the remaining leaves falling off. At that time you can remove the shrunken stems. The buds for next years growth should be visible on the stems. If you remove these you will have no or very few blooms next spring. I find that once we have several hard freezes any dead/desiccated branches for last years growth can be removed by simply snapping them with my fingers. Most suggest destroying or removing from the garden any peony foliage, leaves and stems that are removed because of fungi and mold. Tree peonies are less likely to suffer from that type of problems. Since you are in the UK you might contact Kelways with your questions. They might even have supplied the previous owners with the tree peonies. Please, Please return to post pictures of the blooms next Spring. I am very curious as to what this peony is as it could be a lutea or a delavayi which used to be a separate specie but is not considered to be a type of lutea. https://www.kelways.co.uk/

Thank you I shall contact kelways

Malfleur01, you seem to know so much about Peonies, I thought I'd approach you direct. Forget the fact that I live in Australia - obviously not the best place for a Peony, but I had one in Toronto, and just had to get one for the garden here. I planted a good size tuber/root in a very large pot in our spring, which is rather warm during the day. (I realize now that I should have waited until our fall...which is also a bit warm like our spring but the nights are cool!) Eventually some little stems popped out. It looked a bit sickly for about a month and then wilted away.

What I really need to know is how to care for it now. It's just a pot of soil...with (I hope) a bare root just below the surface, Should I water it occasionally, keep it in the shade? Your thoughts on this would be so appreciated.

I know I can't expect any serious blooms for years, but I would like to know it was a possibility in the future.

Thank you,

Fran

How to handle would depend on what part of Australia you live in. Along the northern coast it may be too warm for it to prosper and bloom. You probably could go ahead and plant it in the ground. Mark the spot because it may send any top growth in your fall, NA's spring, if it was shipped from the Northern Hemisphere. Your fall is probably only a month or month and a half in the future. Keep it watered, give it some general plant food, and if possible some temporary shade. I am concerned that it sent up shoots which died. It may mean that the root has died. Australia used to have it's own peony society but I see no mention of it on line when I just looked. There are growers in Australia although the ones that I knew of have either died or become too elderly to continue.

If you must keep it in the pot water it well but do not allow it to dry out completely.

I am sorry that I did not get back to you sooner but I just saw that this was posted.