I've found several of my plants with buds that are turning black and some of them look like they've been bitten by something. The buds go first, then the discoloration goes down the stem, which then seems to dry up, and start drooping.

I've lost several buds due to this, and I want to know if there's anything I can do to stop my other plants from being affected?

That maybe botrytis blight. "Small buds that are affected turn black and wither.", according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. The affected parts should be cut out and discarded in trash immediately. I don't know if fungicide helps now but just to be safe, I would spray the whole plant with fungicide. I am sorry that your peonies get this but your quick observation of it and removal of the diseased parts will help alot.

Thanks for the info Karen. It's been raning a lot, and humid here, so I won't be surprised if it is botrytis😔

I'll check the other plants and remove it as I see it.

Thanks for your help.

Disinfect tools between plants and wash gloves, too.

Cutting away all finished peony plant material at the end of the season and putting it in bags for the household trash really helps to keep it at bay. This is really the only thing I'm more than a bit fanatic about in the gardens here. I use an old pair of dish washing gloves for this, and toss them afterward.

The affected plants have been trimmed. I'll spray them later today with a fungicide to hopefully prevent the spread of any disease to other plants.

Chelle, I do trim the peonies, and clean up the garden beds in the fall. The weather has been so damp and cool here this spring, which is not helping this problem.

I'll be keeping a close eye on my other plants, only one of my Sorbet, Bernice Carr, and a white noid were affected.

I figured that you did a thorough fall cleanup, but felt I had to add it anyway. Just in case a new peony person dealing with this issue reads this thread.

Ours are up about 20" or so now, despite having three late freeze events in the past 7 days, and I'm getting excited to see some blooms!

Botrytis. Sorry to hear that...

This is pretty interesting: http://www.missouribotanicalga...

It lists a few things that could be going on with your peony.