We inherited several borders of peonies from the previous owners of our house. Their blooming usually heralds a few days of wind and rain (as with the cherry blossom) that knocks the petals off and leaves them looking bedraggled and droopy. Good excuse to pick them before that happens......
Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders has a large bed of beautiful, massed peonies in all colours - surely for cutting, it must take quite a few vases of flowers to decorate a castle!
Thank you for a lovely essay and for a reminder that some short lived things are worth slowing down and admiring. I have a peony in my garden that comes back every one of the last 24 years, despite my being resentful of it being an unscented variety, full of ants if brought in to the house, and lasting at most 2 weeks! I feel better about never having dug it up and will relax and admire it next year, this year's 2 weeks are gone:) Jessica
I adore peonies and have spent years trying to grow them with no success. This year I transplanted them into their own special bed with no competition...when I left them last week they were in bud...I'm heading home tomorrow and desperately hoping I didn't miss them!
I love peonies so much, and as I read you Jane, am on my way home after two weeks away, carrying in my heart the hope that I will be in time to see my flowers blooming.
Yes! Peony gloriousness. I bought a large bunch in the supermarket that was unaccountably reduced and they are in full blowsy perfection now, in two rooms, scenting the whole house. While weeding the jungle that is the neglected back garden of the house we moved into 7 weeks ago I have been discovering peony bushes submerged beneath leggy buttercups and bindweed, pink and white. I've collected seedpods from the tree peony that was in bloom when we moved in and will attempt propagation: the seeds take two winters to get going, so saith the RHS. Did you enjoy Hay? It was my first time at the Festival and have mixed feelings about it.
We left on the day the Hay Festival began so we didn't go to any events - it looked very large and sadly out of town. I wonder now what will happen with the loss of the major sponsor.
It was only about 10 mins walk out of town, and there were a lot of fields offering car parking for a very reasonable price, so I was surprised how accessible it was. You could just walk into the festival area (quite small, a large square of tents and marquees for events linked by a covered boarded walkway) and look at the stalls and buy a ticket, not that many events sold out on the day. But I didn't specially want to see anything I hadn't already got tickets for. I reckon other less-major sponsors, and more of them, will sail into the breach that BG have left. And that would be good.
How apt is that adjective, "blowsy". To me peonies in full bloom look strikingly like French can can dancers, the pale pink ones especially, while tulips are drama queens.
My mother didn't want us to bring peonies in the house because they had ants. My husband said his grandmother cut them short and floated the heads in water to avoid the ant problem. Maybe the ants are a North American thing.
I was curious too at not seeing any other comments about ants on the peonies. We had peony bushes in the yard where I grew up in Illinois, so maybe it is an American thing. We called them “ant bushes “ and never brought them in the house, either. It’s wonderful to buy ant-free peonies from a florist.
We inherited several borders of peonies from the previous owners of our house. Their blooming usually heralds a few days of wind and rain (as with the cherry blossom) that knocks the petals off and leaves them looking bedraggled and droopy. Good excuse to pick them before that happens......
Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders has a large bed of beautiful, massed peonies in all colours - surely for cutting, it must take quite a few vases of flowers to decorate a castle!
Have you ever seen peonies growing in the wild? it occurs naturally in Portugal and this year we could see it in bloom at the end of April.
No, I haven't, but I'd love to!
Thank you for a lovely essay and for a reminder that some short lived things are worth slowing down and admiring. I have a peony in my garden that comes back every one of the last 24 years, despite my being resentful of it being an unscented variety, full of ants if brought in to the house, and lasting at most 2 weeks! I feel better about never having dug it up and will relax and admire it next year, this year's 2 weeks are gone:) Jessica
Those blowsy heads thrill me. Watching them emerge from tight buds in to whoppers and change colour as they grow… bliss.
A beautiful pink tree peony is the first to emerge. A birthday present many years ago & moved twice.
I bought 2 Coral Sunsets 5 years ago which are now stunners. They transform from deep coral to pale watery yellow.
I have a Sarah Bernhardt cutting from my long deceased mother-in-law’s garden.
Their short season is more than made up for by their gorgeousness.
Your post provides another delightful Sunday read & reminds me I must plant more.
I adore peonies and have spent years trying to grow them with no success. This year I transplanted them into their own special bed with no competition...when I left them last week they were in bud...I'm heading home tomorrow and desperately hoping I didn't miss them!
I love peonies so much, and as I read you Jane, am on my way home after two weeks away, carrying in my heart the hope that I will be in time to see my flowers blooming.
Yes! Peony gloriousness. I bought a large bunch in the supermarket that was unaccountably reduced and they are in full blowsy perfection now, in two rooms, scenting the whole house. While weeding the jungle that is the neglected back garden of the house we moved into 7 weeks ago I have been discovering peony bushes submerged beneath leggy buttercups and bindweed, pink and white. I've collected seedpods from the tree peony that was in bloom when we moved in and will attempt propagation: the seeds take two winters to get going, so saith the RHS. Did you enjoy Hay? It was my first time at the Festival and have mixed feelings about it.
We left on the day the Hay Festival began so we didn't go to any events - it looked very large and sadly out of town. I wonder now what will happen with the loss of the major sponsor.
It was only about 10 mins walk out of town, and there were a lot of fields offering car parking for a very reasonable price, so I was surprised how accessible it was. You could just walk into the festival area (quite small, a large square of tents and marquees for events linked by a covered boarded walkway) and look at the stalls and buy a ticket, not that many events sold out on the day. But I didn't specially want to see anything I hadn't already got tickets for. I reckon other less-major sponsors, and more of them, will sail into the breach that BG have left. And that would be good.
How apt is that adjective, "blowsy". To me peonies in full bloom look strikingly like French can can dancers, the pale pink ones especially, while tulips are drama queens.
Particularly wonderful. Thanks.
Have you ever seen peonies growing in the wild? it occurs naturally in Portugal and this year we could see it in bloom at the end of April.
They are gorgeously louche, very fin-de-siècle I feel. How lovely to see fields of them! And in such an amazing array of colours.
My absolute favourite flower - and I have two Sarah Bernhardts which are still to bloom!
My mother didn't want us to bring peonies in the house because they had ants. My husband said his grandmother cut them short and floated the heads in water to avoid the ant problem. Maybe the ants are a North American thing.
I was curious too at not seeing any other comments about ants on the peonies. We had peony bushes in the yard where I grew up in Illinois, so maybe it is an American thing. We called them “ant bushes “ and never brought them in the house, either. It’s wonderful to buy ant-free peonies from a florist.
Oh my goodness another reminder that I absolutely must plant some in my garden.
I can't remember where the kits for the 70s tissue paper flowers came from - could very well have been Habitat, or maybe even WH Smith?