Hello, I love to garden and a little over a year ago I moved in with my fiance and took over his garden. He has lived in his house about 7 years, it was pre-landscaped by the subdivision. All he has ever done outside is cut the grass and hack back all the plants in the fall (& by that I mean everything, lilacs and other thing that wouldnt bloom because he cut them all in the fall, and significantly). SO I have been trying to identify the plants and improve the garden. I noticed these which were obviously not weeds but I couldn't place what they were, I watched them a little through the summer but not closely as there were a lot of plants to try to manage and identify. I don't remember what the leaves looked like but I do remember it never bloomed.

This spring they are coming up and I am thinking they look like peonies.
I was looking for some feedback to confirm if these are or not? I know the picture isnt the best quality.

And then also, if it is a peony, I know you are supposed to transplant them in fall but do you think it would be suitable to move it now (zone 5)? I would love a few flowers this year, even if its not many seeing as they arent blooming at all where they are planted. They are in partial shade, there is a redbud tree next to it and 3 honeysuckle bushes. The soil is also pretty rocky and sandy. I'm guessing when the landscaping was put in the other plants were not that big (unless it was my fiance's aggressive pruning).

Any feed back or ideas on this plant would be appreciated!!!

Congrats Coolslaw, those are peonies. 👏🏻 Is there anyway you could leave them there and wait until Fall? Hopefully they will bloom this year, and you can see what color they are in order to place them in the best spot for future Spring blooms .

If you have some nice compost, put some in a ring around the plant but do not let it touch the stems. That will help it grow this Spring since they've probably been neglected by your fiancée.

Good luck.

Welcome Coolslaw! As LG said above they're best moved in the fall, will require a lot more babying during the year if you try to move them now. Good luck!

Welcome!

Peonies don't appreciate competition. If you keep it clear of grass and weeds, give it a bit of gentle fertilizer, and keep it watered, it should reward you with blooms.

As for IDing the peony, unless it is very distinctive in the appearance of it's mature foliage and/or flower, it is unlikely. There are a lot of cultivars and they are often times very similar in color and form. Most of us own unidentified plants and enjoy their many charms, ID'd or not.

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Thank you very much, I am excited I will try and mulch and fertilize the soil near by it to see if that helps it bloom this summer, and wait until fall to transplant it, at the least it will strengthen it so that it can handle being transplanted.

Welcome Coolslaw. It looks like that peony should reward you with blooms this year. If you think of it, you'll have to show us what you've got there.

When thinking about fall transplanting, best advice to prevent injury to the plant is to dig wide and deep. You will injure less this way.

Good luck with your garden!