Oh and one more thing, earlier this spring it looked as if the very tip of an eye was poking up thru the soil(besides the one stem), but it apparently was a dud and never made another stem. Is it possible this peony has root rot and is just barely hanging on? I'm guessing that's what happened to the other ones since they never came back. Would that also cause it to have less stems than last year? I always heard they double the amount of stems from one year to the next...

It sounds like your planting location is too poorly drained for peony. A mound or a raised bed at least a foot high I think would be required to be successful with peony or most other plantings, except bog type. It may be possible to install drainage tile, which would depend on your layout. Al

Thanks for the advice, Al. I would like to keep it as simple as possible, with a mound should I just place the plant above the dirt and add more dirt around it(without amending the soil below it)? Sorry for the silly questions, I'm not the most experienced gardener...lol. :)

I would calculate how much soil needed to make the raised bed and order it from a landscape supply. It should be a balanced mix of loam and is usually sold as "Topsoil". It takes 27 cubic feet to make a yard, which is the measure used. Al

Thanks Al! I'll call around and try to pick up some topsoil then.