I'm not really sure what kind of peony you have but you can always bring a picture of it to your local nursery. They will be able to help you identify it. As for whether or not something is wrong with your peony, your peony looks okay to me. Sometimes when it's too hot and there is no rain, the buds may shrivel up. This has happened to me many times, I end up picking the buds off and my peony is okay the following year. I would try to clear the area around your peonies. There seems to be a lot of little plants growing inside and around the stems. When there isn't enough air circulation, peonies can develop gray mold or bortrytis. I would then try to clear away some of the dirt around the stems. Peonies should not be planted more than 2 inches deep. Otherwise, they won't flower. I would add some bonemeal or Neptune's Sea Harvest around each of the peony plants. Stay away from the artificial type fertilizers, they can do more damage than good. Lastly, get some peony rings to support the leaves. I wouldn't cut the leaves off unless there was a disease. Peonies, like other plants, need their leaves to photosynthesize food in order to develop a strong root system. Peonies are hardy plants and can live for up to a 100 years given they are planted in the right conditions. Good luck!

If you want color all year you will need to plant shrubs as there are very few plants that bloom continuously so look for leaf coloration. To have bloom all season you will need to have a variety of plants not just a couple of varieties. Since you have lawn areas to be filled start looking for plants that will live for several years. Space them so that they can fill in the area. Then do under planting with annuals or other short lived plants. These will fill in the blank spaces why the other plants grow. Although you want info from a forum posters only post about plants that will grow in their area. They may not grow in yours not because of the silly zone thing but because they may have sand, clay, or bog conditions. What works for me does not work for a real plant person friend of mine that lives less than 5 miles away. Things to think about do you want just color or do you want scented flowers. Be aware that all flowers with the same name may not even smell. Do you have a preference in colors. Best of all what do you not like.

The plant at the top edge of the photo looks like it is struggling, too. Is that a Senecio? I'm not sure. Looks like they are all in a bark mulch or compost mix unless that is only a top dressing. The Kalanchoe and Portulacaria seem OK but the other two aren't happy. The soil mix probably needs to be less water retentive for those two plants. That might seem backwards however if a mix is too water retentive then the roots have problems and stop taking up moisture. Then the plant begins to look under watered even when the mix is kept moist.

I'm in Wisconsin. Thank you.