1st time PEONIES growing, how do I not kill them???

Hey there, and thanks for any advise. I did a lot of internet reading before I planted 6 peony bushes in my yard (only put them 2' apart, I guess in a yr. or 2 I'll have to move them). However, I found conflicting advise on a few things. Can you tell me if I should cut off the flowers during the first years bloom? I had 1 bloom each on 2 of the plants, and cut them off within a week of their opening fully. (I got to enjoy the beautiful things indoors for another week!) Some sites said to do this, and others never mentioned it. Four of the plants have not yet flowered. I don't see any sign of it at all. Could I have done something in the planting to discourage flowering? Most of these are the smaller (under 12") ones. And each Peony is a different variety.

I've been adding organic manure around the base of the plants everyother week to help them get more nutrients. And I've been watering in a circle around the bases to try not to soak the tubers too much. They face east and get morning sun until about noon. Am I doing things right? I want so much to see these beautiful plants flourish.

Thanks for any help for a newbee!

I don't know anything about cutting off flowers in the first year, but many shrubs won't flower well for a year or two after you plant them because they need to get their roots well established first, then they will start to grow and flower more. So I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of flowers this year.

We can't really grow peonies here so sorry I can't give you any other advice on how to take care of them.

Hi mfrese, I just love Peonies, I'm in Scotland and mine are great, some have done flowering, some are in bud just about ready to flower, and some have got really small buds and will be slightly late, all are different types, so dont worry that they dont come all at the one time,
You are doing the right thing by giving them some manure, you dont say what kind of animal manure, so I would stop that for now as you dont want them over fed, or they will throw up plenty greenery at the cost of flowers, they need time to settle into there new planting area in your garden, the biggest cause of them not blooming are few so I will identfy them for you and you will be able to work it out.
a) If the tubers are planted too deep, they just want covered in no more, in fact, I can see all my tubers peeping through the soil, but the roots that come from the tubers, will work there way down the soil to the deapth they need, over time. they like the sun to get the warmth to the tuber.
b) they like quite a lot of water so as you have JUST planted yours, the roots wont be too far away from the tuber, make sure you really wet the soil, it wont hurt the tuber if it gets wet, it will help keep it nice and plump, unless you have clay soil which stays wet, adding the manure will help break that up.
c) they do not like to be disturbed, so if you have to move them, do it end of season this year and then leave them alone, IF you do have to move them in a few years, it is unlikely they will flower again for a year or so.
even now, you can move the ones that have not yet flowered IF you have only very recently planted them. A couple of mine have been in the same spot about 20 years, the tubers are huge, I can see the top of them just above the grownd, IF we are to have a real bad frost, they will withstand that for a day or so, but prolonged frost, I throw a mulch over them, then in spring, as soon as I see the new shoots poke through the ground, and frost has gone, I just move it to the side so that the tuber aint buried too deep, and the sun can then get onto the tuber that is JUST below/on the soil. dont take away any of the leaves till it has gone dry, then you gently pull it away or cut it away, they need the greenery to die down naturaly and it also sends nurishment back to the tuber, I only give mine a feed, end of flowering season when I remove the flowerheads, and again in spring, with animal feeds, it aint instant, but helps build up a food store over a longer period, so dont expect instant results from it, too much will cause the tuber to rot. hope this helps you, if the tubers are new, they sometimes need a wee while to put out some roots before they use energy on flowers. Good Luck, WeeNel.