With such hot temperatures and intense sun, I've wondered if peonies need a little temporary shade. Especially younger plants. I have one I planted last fall---it is droopy even though I water, and it does look like a little sunscald on the leaves.

Some people shade them when in flower so the flowers don't fade, but normally peonies don't need shading. I have one like that and I am just watering it every day.
What kind is it? Some of the early ones like fern leaf will start to go dormant in the heat.

I think peonies benefit greatly from afternoon shade when they're newly or relatively newly planted. Cooler temps from the shaded areas should help promote root growth and keep the stems and foliage hydrated longer, roots don't have to work as hard. Water them when the soil is dry an inch or so down!

Thank you, Caroline and Liz. The cultivar is White Cap. I think I will erect some type of shade cover for the new ones, although it might be too late for White Cap. I hope the roots are still alive. We've got a couple cooler days coming up, but back into the mid and upper 90s for the next week or so.

If it's just droopy and a bit of sun scald it's definitely not too late for White Cap.

Update: I gave the peony a little shade with some cardboard, but more importantly, I gave it a slow deep soaking so that deep layers of soil were well moistened. The plant perked up. I suspect that before, I was watering superficially, and it was probably dry at deeper levels where the roots were. I'm not sure why the other peonies were doing ok--I thought I was watering them all the same. I guess when there is a stress placed on plants, often 1 plant shows the stress first.

I'm glad you had good results Laurie!

You stare a very accurate point, Laurie—watering well enough to ensure moisture seeps down to root level is essential! If you spray a stream of water for a few seconds on soil that is dry several inches down it does no good at all. I e been guilty of telling people not to water as often without ensuring that they're watering properly in the first place, I'll be more mindful of that in the future! Glad your peony is doing better!