The first peonies to bloom are Woodland Peonies. Woodland peonies are understory plants that grow in the shade. They typically leaf out and bloom early in the season, photosynthesizing as much as possible before leaves emerge on deciduous trees in spring and block out the sun. This characteristic leads to an early bloom time for woodland peonies.

Note this is our best guess for the timing of the bloom. Warm weather will speed it up, cool with extend it, rain and wind can change it overnight, and a sunny day can make everything pop. Some days will have thousands of flowers in bloom and others will not.