Paeonia lactiflora of the Paeoniaceae family.So ruffly, like cotton candy tulle. The weighty blooms sag and bend back towards the earth, too heavy for their stems. And the scent, the heavenly sweet perfume is unmatched.
I have a peony bush. I have nursed it and babied it, stopping just short of praying over it. I know how lovely it could bloom. I know how laden it's stems could be with fluffy, ruffly flowers. That is, if it weren't for my precious offspring. Every single year I warn them and lecture them and bribe them. Every single year they pick off the buds. For the past three years I have enjoyed exactly one bloom each summer. It's like they leave that one little ant covered ball, just to taunt me. I watch that one bud daily as it grows and begins to open. Then it finally does and I shove my nose right into the middle of it and breathe deeply. I am torn. Should I cut that one blossom and bring it inside to enjoy? Should I leave it? These decisions are too much for me.
Maybe I should be asking different questions. Should I put a barbed wire fence around the bush next year? Should I keep my children inside until the peony has finished blooming? Should I sell my children to the gypsies? All for the love of my peony.
She hath a deep-hid virtue
No other flower hath.
When summer comes rejoicing
A-down my garden path,
In opulence of color,
In robe of satin sheen,
She casts o'er all the hours
Her sorcery serene.
(an excerpt from the poem Peony by Bliss Carmen)
No other flower hath.
When summer comes rejoicing
A-down my garden path,
In opulence of color,
In robe of satin sheen,
She casts o'er all the hours
Her sorcery serene.
(an excerpt from the poem Peony by Bliss Carmen)
20 comments:
Peonies are de-vine. I just planted some and am waiting with baited breath to see if they will give me blooms this year. I am doubtful.
Love the gorgeous magenta color.
This is what we did. We put tomato cages around them so that the dog and the kids would avoid them. We lost two last year. Peonies are wonderful and they keep the ants away from the house.
I absolutely agree. They are very possibly my favorite flower. Stunningly beautiful, and their smell is unmatched!
I have to say that whole ant part is pretty gross though.
-Andrea
I've contemplated the gypsy route a time or two with my own children, in regards to my garden. Many sympathies.
Why do the ants love them peonies so much, by the way?
Don't cut it. I will bring you a booooquet in a few days. If my grandchildren don't discover mine! We won't discuss that the one bush has over 70 buds on it.....Why do they walk past grandma's bushes and anihilate yours???
It's a generational thing, the picking of the buds. You did it and I forgive you because I did it!
I also LOVE peonies. I have two that are from my Granny's farm. That same beautiful color. My children don't pick the buds or I would sell them to the gypsies! ALL SEVEN OF THEM!!!
We lived in a rental house years ago that had beautiful peony plants that fell over from the abundance of blooms. I cut them off and brought the fragrant flowers inside only to be run over from all the ants that found their way into the recesses of their petals.
When we moved I tried to grow my own peonies to no avail. Nothing I did seemed to produce blooms. One gardener told me "High & Dry" thats how you plant/care for them. If I decide to fork out the money for another plant I will try that.
What I think is a peony is much like a cat... it has a mind of its own and just chooses where it will lay down roots and bloom. It really has nothing to do with the gardener. (its my story and I'm sticking to it!!)
HI new here! I have 3 tree peonies. The blooms on them can get as big as a dinner plate! No kidding. The late hard freezes we had this yr really did a umber on them. I had 2 blooms out of all 3 plants! Waa.
Mmmm...I have four peony plants in our front yard and that's the key to their survival. I generally don't let our kids play in the front yard (we live on a curve in the road and there are too many crazy teenaged drivers around).
So our peonies flourish. The flowers in our backyard? Not so much. I once wrote about what a big mistake it is to let a toddler boy witness the act of dead-heading petunias. Sob.
Oh my. If my sons ever go after my peony buds, woe unto them. I have three peonies, and they are my pride and joy. I would fill my whole garden with the things if I could.
I vote for barbed wire with a razor wire coil at the top. At least you'll get to see the thing bloom!
This is our state flower, and I love them. Mine are hot pink, but I prefer the soft pink ones. I loved the way you wrote your post, about sticking your nose right into one; I've done that before. And I have never seen that poem. Thanks for a beautiful moment.
I LOVE PEONIES TOO.
I grow peonies, just like my grandma did. I have not had good experiences with bringing them in, though. No matter how much I shake them, examine them, every time I wind up with ants all over the kitchen table. Ew.
My peonies have some sort of fungus this year, though. They're pretty for about a day before they start getting yucky. Need to do something about that.
My kids leave my peonies alone, but my daughter once picked ALL my tulips once. All 30 of them...and she only got about two inches of stem beneath the blooms. But she was three and beautiful and so pleased that she'd picked me some flowers. I somehow managed to smile and thank her.
I'm for the wire fence too! Now that you have shown us your peony in all its glory I think it may need to go on the family endangered species list at your house. lol
You know my own passion for peonies. I don't think mine will bloom this year, but that's nothing new. Maybe next year since we moved 'em. That flower is beautiful.
My vote is for the barb-wired fence...that would really add to the beauty of the plant! :)
Maybe I should start raising peonies too...hmmm!
my kiddos made me a bouquet of all my pretty columbines. it was hard to plaster on a smile, i was so disappointed.
Oh my, I don't think I've ever seen a peonie bush in real life. They are gorgeous!
BTW, I hope you let us all know when you head off to the hospital so we can all be praying for you and your wee one.
At our last house, my hubby used to mow over my peonies every year. I kept expecting him to remember they were there, or maybe to mow the lawn before it was as high as the early peony stalks. But no, it never happened. They always came back, though. And my husband survived my wrath.
Just to continue the tradition, this year at our new house he mowed over my sprouting sunflowers.
Peonies are one of my favorite flowers. :)
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