Sometimes it takes a few years for the plant to get settled in enough to bloom. Also the most common reason for non-blooming is that the rhizomes are planted too deep. You list North Carolina as where you are from and in the more southern areas, the peony should be planted fairly shallowly, even moreso than normal. Ie., no more than an inch or so below the soil or even even at the surface. I have mine permanently in a container (I potted it up from a container plant from a nursery) with the rhizome at the surface, pretty much exposed and left that way over winter unprotected - and it has a bunch of buds ready to pop open in the next week or so.

Do yours have any buds at all?

i have a peony plant in a pot. its just green with no buds at all... just green leaves... what am i doing wrong???