Growing Peonies

As a whole peonies don't last very long, probably just a few weeks. They usually bloom around Memorial Day. The whole plant doesn't die, just the blooms. When the blooms are done, you can cut the dried up part off and still have nice looking foliage. They used to be used a lot on graves for Memorial Day. Before cemeteries became so fussy people used to plant peonies, iris, etc right on the graves. I have even seen lilac bushes planted on the graves.