I've had better luck growing them in part sun rather than full blazing hot sun - if you plant them with other plants (like a mixed border) they will appreciate the little bit of shading their neighbors leaves give them. Other people do fine planting them out in the wide open sunshine.

They hate to be dug up or moved once you plant them so make a BIG hole and fill it with the best soil you can find and plant the roots so that the sprouts are just at soil level or just beneath it (you want the sprouts to experience as much cold as possible or else they won't bloom much. If you bury them too deep they miss out on the cold weather.)

At the big box stores you can find bags of garden soil or flower bed mix. Personally I like the coarse stuff used for trees and shrubs, it is often the cheapest at around $6 for a big bag. You want fluffy well draining dark soil. You don't want something spongy that smushes into a hard mass when you squeeze it in your hand.

There is a problem when planting into clay. If you dig a crater in the clay and fill it with improved soil and then plant your plants - they often suffer when it rains a lot because the hole you dug becomes a bowl of water logged soil. You have to also dig trenches leading downhill from the hole so that excess water can drain away or you have to mound your good soil up above the clay. You only have to mound it up like 5 inches. Some plants can't stand to have any of their roots sitting in water, most plants can handle it if only some of their roots are underwater but the crown has to stay drier. Peonies don't like to swim.

You've got your work cut out for you - removing the bermuda is going to be a project. One peony plant will grow about 3 feet wide (sometimes wider) so the hole has to be about that big and the grass removal has to extend that far. A plants leaves direct rainwater to the root tips - the furthest point at the end of the branches is the drip line where the tips of the roots are underground - thats how big the good soil has to be.

Another Ha Ha,She did it again post..
My best peonies are rooted through the bottom of the pot where I set them waiting for the soil to dry out some before planting.
Let's see, that was before I smashed my knee in fall of 2006.

So..the planting advice to keep the crown of the plant above the soil is probably really good advice, LOL.

Dottie gets the prize for creativity with planting techniques!

Peonies are kinda top heavy when they bloom so be kinda careful when you mound up better soil on top of your clay otherwise they will flop over and possibly pull the whole plant out of the ground.

You can grow peonies in really large pots. They look stunning when in full bloom.