Signs of botrytis ....a bit of fuzz at the stem's base and if they fall over might be attributed to this fungal disease.
You are advised to cut away all signs of damage and burn.........or garbage the refuse. Do not compost.

Thrips cause the leaves to become streaky...washed out looking. If you suspect this, place a sticky pest strip near the plant. Plants that are blue will draw thrips.

If suspicion warrants, use a 40 to 1 solution water/soap....wash the plant top to bottom, bottom to top, then wait for 10 minutes. Rinse well.

If the plant is in bloom, do the leaves but not the bloom.
Rinse after 5 minutes.

Thank you Diane! I will check for fuzz at the base tomorrow morning and follow your procedure.

Do a web search on bud blast... It's most likely your problem.

Diann
IA Z5a

Troubleshooting a common problem

The buds start to grow in spring, but they stay very tiny and die. What's wrong?

This is a condition called "bud blast" Â the flower buds grow about the size of a small pea but then stop growing and fail to open. Possible causes include poor soil fertility, planting too deeply, too much shade, dry spells or cold injury.

Colder-than-normal winters followed by late spring frosts can abort the buds of mature and new plants. In this case, the best remedy is to protect the clumps with winter mulch (fall leaves or Christmas tree boughs work well) applied in late fall or early winter after cutting down the previous season's foliage.

Bud blast often occurs in newly planted peonies. Because these plants form their buds in the fall, a clump that has been divided has a much-reduced root system that sometimes doesn't have the strength to develop all the buds, and so they just dry up. This problem goes away as the plant matures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bud Blast

See the link below if you did not find the "bud blast" info.

Cheers, Yvonne

Here is a link that might be useful: peony problems, including bud blast

Thank you, Yvonne! It's always good to hear from people that know and grow peonys. :) So now what does one do about cladiosporum (sp)? Thanks!

Diann
IA Z5a