I am spoiled. I have a gorgeous hot pink peony outside my front door. The only thing I do for it is snip the stems at their base when their bloom has expired. :-D

When we have plants that don't do well, we move their location until we find a 'happy' place for them to bloom & grow!

Maybe that's why i have one in a corner that doesn't do anything it could be to deep.It's still pretty chilly here,i might just lift it up a bit.

And if they don't have small buds when they come up, they won't be blooming.

I grow peonies, and they are pretty carefree plants. If you only planted them in the past couple of years, sometimes it takes peonies 2-3 years to settle in and get happy enough to bloom. That's the only way they are finicky. Otherwise, I would dig them up, mix some compost in the soil and add some time-release fertilizer for flowering plants like Osmokote, be sure the root ball is broken up enough that it will spread out, and then re-plant and let them be. I live in the south and plant in red/yellow clay soils and my peonies do fine. They like their soils a little on the acidic side, so that might be a thing to take a look at. Also, be sure that they are getting a good 4-5 hours of afternoon sun, the hotter the better, with good drainage. Attached are pictures of my favorite peonies.

i have peony plants on the East and the West side of my house. the East ones come up first and usually bloom first too. and yes, ants are what help the blossoms open.
my dirt is old and no new neutrients added but they do well.

they need the ants to pollnate [sp] them , not to really eat them.

That's the first thing I thought of - they're planted too deep

lots of sun, not too deep - was it a new plant or was it moved? I've been told they don't like to be moved.

I live in the home my husband grew up in we have a row of peonies that he said has been there as long as he can remember. He is nearing 60. The only thing we do is mow them down in the fall, they are full of blooms every year.

I was thinking it might not be planted deep enough. My late MIL had some absolutely gorgeous peonies that I brought back from Wisconsin after the house was sold. I was so afraid they wouldn't do well because I dug them up in the nasty heat of late July/early August!! :shock: Well, those plants grew like weeds!! I planted one in the backyard, but it never did quite as well. I realized that it was because it wasn't planted deep enough so I dug it up, replanted it, and it did very well after that! :-D I sure wish I still had those beautiful plants, but my ex now has them. :thumbdown: