Hi. How much sun does it get? I have one in shade and it looks like your third photo with just one small bud. All my other peonies are in full sun and did well.

It depends on the time of the year. I suppose it has foliage only between mid March/early April and September/October. It lives on a NNW balcony and probably gets no sun in mid March and late September and 6 plus hours in June/July.

i think of peony as 30 to 50 year old plants in grandmas garden... been there forever ..

you garden on a balcony exclusively in pots.. i smell a rat ...

im wondering if you have a fert issue .. or lack thereof .. just something about pits causing this ...

ken

No rats on my balcony ὠ2...a rare squirrel maybe once in a half dozen years, just a few finches, pigeons, bees, wasps and lady bugs....Anyhow, so you don't think not enough sunlight might be to blame? Can one tell if it is getting enough sunlightby looking at the color of the foliage, spacing of leaves etc. As to fertilizer, I have been diligent in giving it fertilizer this year once it sprouted. The foliage is around only for about 6 months or so and is growing only for a month or two so it is hard to figure out fertilization and not overfertilize. As to it being in a pot, don't the garden centers have peonies blooming away in one and two gallon pots. Mine is in a five gallon and the roots do not seem to suggest it needs a bigger pot last I checked.

It's very difficult to get herbaceous peonies to bloom when grown in pot. Peonies flowers need a lot of nutrients to produce blooms. When there are not enough nutrients, they will abort the buds in order to maintain the plant. You can try a bigger pot with very good potting soil that is well drain. Apply adequate bulb fertilizer so that the peony will have enough to take the buds to blooms. Also make sure the eyes are slightly jsut below the surface of the soil level of the pot.

Karen, I was at HD and Lowe's the other day and they had bud and flowers on peonies in 3 quarts square pots. I took some pics. In fact, Lowe's had one with 3 puny narrow leaves (indicating very young plant, not pictured here) that was happily blooming away!

Update, day 4