Three peony families

Herbaceous peonies (Paeonia lactiflora and its hybrids) die back to ground each winter and explode in May/June. The classic cottage-garden peony.

Tree peonies (P. suffruticosa) keep woody stems all year and flower earlier with huge silk-paper blooms.

Itoh / intersectional peonies — a cross of the two — give the foliage of tree peonies with the manageable size of herbaceous, and very long flowering. Worth the price.