Peony plants are easy to grow. The cages are not necessary. Peony flowers when in bloom are heavy for the stem and tend to droop sometimes to the ground. It doesn't hurt the plant though. People use the cages to keep the flowers from drooping. The first year of your peony you wouldn't have to worry about cages. When the flower dies I just cut it off. After the frost kills the plant I cut them down to ground level.

IMO, unless the interspecies hybrids like the Itoh's, most herbaceous peonies DO need cages. The stems are not woody or strong enough so the weight of the large flowers can droop and pull them over. Also rain or watering make the flowers even heavier and it is just tidier and better for the appearance to cage or stake your plants. For new, fall-planted starts, you won't need to worry about caging for a couple of seasons :-)

The biggest issues with peonies is to not plant them too deeply, give them plenty of sun and find the right spot for them and leave them be...they will pout after transplanting and may not bloom again for several years. No fertilizer necessarily required if in decently fertile and well draining soil.

btw, they are NOT bulbs :-)

Thank you both so much for the info. I won’t worry about the cages this year. I planted six and two have started sprouting! I was careful with the depth, used a ruler! Hopefully all six will grow!

Apologies for the not so useful tree peony video

This comes from

Dig a planting hole 30cm(12in) wide and deep, incorporating some garden compost and a handful of bone meal or general fertiliser. Plant bare root tree peonies deeply, most are grafted, and so the graft union should be at least 8cm below the soil. This will encourage the tree peony to make fresh roots and basal shoots.

Caring For Tree Peonies - How to Get the Best From Your ...

Try this one - more informative.

Thank you for the videos and info - informative!! They are herbaceous peonies. I always admire the peonies some of my neighbors have so my daughters got me a "collection" at the end of the summer last year. Six bareroots (I mistakenly called them bulbs before!) including Duchess de Nemours, Sarah Bernhardt, Black Beauty. I'm anxiously waiting for them to begin growing so that I can have flowers in a few years. My neighbor's Peony is very old (been there as long as I can remember) and the blooms in the spring are simply breathtaking! She does nothing to it - doesn't cut it back, doesn't tend it at all and it's glorious.

I have Sarah Bernhardt and they always need staking and sometimes, the flowers are so big and heavy that they collapse onto the ground. Now that you know, so please don't bury the crown too deep. Peonies are easy as they can withstand severe drought. I never bother to water them. It might take a while to establish. You are so lucky to have them free. They cost me an arm and a leg. Hope you've said enough Thank you!

Pretty much just let them do their thing, no special treatment. the cages do help though. you'd cage em early in the season. it's done to support the heavy blooms. You can get blooms on first year as well.