Here's a close-up of the interesting top.

Here is a link that might be useful:

And here's what it started out looking like.

This is one of the other plants that isn't as big as the first, and there's another one that is just barely above ground. All photos just now taken.

Here is a link that might be useful:

They are peonies and very nice robust ones at that! The first has large flower buds already evident and should be blooming in a couple of weeks. Kinda early for peonies around here - they are usually in bloom right around Mother's Day - but they obviously like their location.

Now is the time to apply supports or a peony cage. The flowers are large and can get very heavy, pulling down the stems. Same if it rains during bloomtime.

Thank you - now I'm off to find out about peonies! A lot of the plants here don't look familiar to me at all. I see a new row of gardening books in my future ...

I had a similar experience when we moved into this house, it was really cool seeing what popped up where! Whoever lived here before liked to plant daffodils in the weirdest places...

Amy

You are so lucky to have peonies coming up in your garden. You will love them, they're gorgeous. They look very healthy, and there's so many of them. I'm also a southern CA transplant and have been discovering numerous plants that I never saw in CA (and that I want in my garden); peonies are one, dahlias are another. I was riding my bike around my neighborhood last June when I saw this beautiful plant with tons of big pink flowers all over it. I asked the owner what they were and she told me they were peonies. I searched online for a place to buy them and found a place not too far away, so I drove up and bought my first peonies there. You can go there in June to see thousands of them in bloom. It's Adelman Gardens just outside of Salem. Welcome to the Northwest. Have fun with your garden.