Thanks, all.
Pwinget - that particular area is under a crape myrtle tree so there is plenty of light before the tree leafs out, and it provide some shade from the summer sun as the season progresses.
For comparison, this is the front yard before I starting digging out the lawn in 2010. The incentive for that (besides the fact that I hate lawns) was that I ran out of room in the backyard, and I had 4-5 peonies to plant. I wanted especially to put the tree peonies where it will be visible and be appreciated.
Here is a shot of that area from today. To the left of the Koukamon is an ITOH which is 3 years old, never bloomed, but I see a bud on it