Peonies like to be planted about 1-2 inches below the top of the ground surface. It maybe that you're using too much nitrogen based fertilizers, which gives you more foliage than bloom. If the peonies are 10+ years, it is best to divide them at that point (more peonies!) cutting away all the feeder roots from the storage root. Let it dry out about a day or 2 so it will not rot or develope a fungus, then replant it with the eyes pointing upwards, amending the soil with bone meal, fish meal, aged and well-rotted manure, compost, blood meal, alfalfa meal etc. A combination of all above or 1 or 2 of them...... mostly a hand full of bone meal. Make sure you have a high middle number. Peonies normally prefer organic fertilizers, however, in the spring you can put a "bulb" fertilizer of about 10 10 10 " or a seaweed or fish based fertilizer about 1/2 foot away and around the crown of the peony. Most of the time, manures dumped onto the top of the your peony causes the crown to rot. Some people some times even dump rabbit manure on top of them but it is not a good practice. Too much fertilizer will cause it not to bloom also. Lastly;.... in a few of the northern areas, peonies are normally planted or moved in or after September unless they are potted prior. Then you can plant them any time. So, I recommend that you look at some of the websites such as songsparrow.com, ADpeonies.com or hollingsworthpeonies.com etc. They sometimes offer planting info and diagrams. Find a nice sunny place forr it....they normally do not like to be moved once established. It gets pretty deep as the years go on. It grows 10 + years. Good Luck!

P.S. I apologize if I explained with too much detail but I can't imagine losing any of those precious jewels!