This spring I planted a peony tuber. It has brown leaves on it, yet the one next to it, planted several years ago is very healthy and has a lot of blooms in late spring. What is wrong with it?
Peonies take a while to get established. The older plant clearly is established but your young plant with a very shallow root system is likely struggling as a result of our hot and dry summer. Keep the younger plant watered and feed it in spring as soon as the ground thaws and can be worked. I’d suggest Espoma Flower-tone as the food. It can take 3 years or more for a peony to become well enough established that it has the energy to spare on a flowering cycle. Also peonies, once established, don’t like to be moved. Simply moving and established peony to a new location can cause it not to flower for a couple of years.