What variety is your tree peony. Most gardeners garden in clay. It just depends on type of clay. Clay happens to be just a small particle size not a true type of soil. When you plant try and include lots of compost in the soil.

Because tree peonies bloom so early it might be best to plant in a more shaded area. The shade keeps the plant cooler and may retard the bloom cycle. The cooler the temperature also will lengthen the time the bloom remains on the plant.

Having gone to school in Orange CA the bird of paradise are more likely to take over the bed than the butterfly bush.

The peony is the "bouchela" cultivar.

The clay is pretty thick and heavy--there are rocks deeper down. I thought that the peony likes it very fertile and quick draining. I was planning to have 6 in. where I mix equal parts clay with potting soil in the bottom, then use primarily potting soil at the top 6 in. (the entire depth of the bed will be 12 in.) At least it won't be a major shock...

Re: the bird of paradise, this one is a dwarf, and has been very unhappy in the pot-soil supplemented clay soil that it's sitting in. I suspect the problem is the poor drainage...This is partly the reason why I was thinking of starting the peony off on potting soil.

The peony has been sitting under the hot Napa sun when I saw it at the nursery, and I've kept it under the sun for the past couple of days while I was trying to figure out where I want to site my raised bed. But do you think it will do better in the "shade"? "Shade" is sun until 2 p.m. Would that be enough? Wouldn't it be cold during the winter in the "shade." This corner of the yard gets really cold during the winter--what with the less sun and the windchill--our yard's pretty windy.

Lil

For what it's worth, I've been growing Peonies in OK for 4 or 5 years now. The clay is so dense there is an extremely short time span where you can actually do anything with it--when wet it's like gluey glop you can't get off your shove, and when it finally dries, it's like concrete. I had to use a Mantis to get a hole scraped out for planting.
My peonies have grown and bloomed just fine. Some years I've watered and "cared" for them, and others years I've ignored them. I don't cut them back at all, just let them wither away in the fall. They seem to be pretty forgiving of whatever you do to them.

Good luck!

If you paid tree peony prices for your bouchela please contact the nursery. If you have a tree peony the plant was mislabled and perhaps they will refund part of your money??? Bouchela is generally sold as a laciflora not a tree. Type the name in search and you will find more information. It is very pretty and if you received it at a reasonable cost it is well worth the money. Many times the labels get switched but if you still have the receipt maybe the nursery will make an adjustment.