Peonies are easily my favorite flower. And that’s why Pete included them in my latest blog header, how sweet. Mom and dad had a big ol’ peony patch that I coveted year after year; I even (tried to) paint the blossoms during the summer I was really into oil painting (circa. 2000). Because Mom spends time taming back some of her plants every fall, I ended up with some really hearty, well rooted peony plants for my own garden in the fall of 2009.
Unfortunately, as they started to grow last spring, the dog doused them, if you catch my drift. They didn’t even have a chance. I expelled lots of emotions over this and I subsequently trained the dog not to pee in that corner of the yard. This isn’t a post about my dog or excretion. Moving on.
I can happily report that they’re back this year. And then it gets annoying again; mine are much more stunted than others I see in the community. Maybe they don’t get enough sun, maybe the cooler weather by the lake is delaying their development. But today they look like this. Here’s to hoping I get one or two or maybe three blooms. Even little blooms would do.
Oh sweet embarrassment, I really need to weed and mulch back there.
That was a nice long way of getting to my real point, that I hope those peonies keep on keepin’ on so in another month I can retire these babies:
I found them at a garage sale a few years ago (for a sweet $2) and I don’t have any history accumulating fake flowers, but being peonies, in good condition no less, I decided to give it a shot. The stems were kind of long, which I felt was oddly distracting to the overall look and feel I was going for, so this year I hacked the stems a little shorter to display in a smaller vase.
Hell, I’ll even admit that I misted them with some Peony Bath & Body Works body spray someone gave me one time. These can work for me until the real deal is in bloom.
Ooh, how about a bonus shot with Cody, since be was behaving while I snapped from a few different angles:
9 Comments
Those look great! Too funny that you misted them with spray!
Also, love the Featured On page :)
Thanks Cait! :)
Peonies are my favorite flower too! My ornamental garden is FULL of them. Don’t worry, those wee plants will continue to grow. Mine look about the same right now, but they always turn into large bushes of peonies. I am dying for them to come in, craving the scent. Those fake peonies aren’t too bad, need to find some that look as nice. I want to wear one in my hair :)
Jeal of your garden! Sounds lush and wonderful; I really wish I could fast forward 10 years and have a perfectly edged and yard full of established perennials.
Gorgeous! What a great find. :) I LOVE peonies too… and chrysanthemums! :) They totally make my day! And… carnations. I know most people are not big fans, but carnation was ACTUALLY my grandmother’s name… LOL… long story, but because of that… I LOVE THEM! :)
CARNATION? That’s mad cool. What a beautiful family name; I can’t beat that. Names aside, I’m also excited for my azaleas to bloom – the flowers stay alive/bright for weeks after trimmed. And I’ve been using too many emoticons too; and semi-colons.
oh ya… and apparently I’m on an emoticon thing today, because they are everywhere I write! Sorry…
Peonies don’t like to be transplanted…. but they forgive you after a couple of years. You might not get any blooms this year, but I would bet you get some next year. It took me 3 years after I moved mine.
Ahhh well that would make sense. I’ll hold out hope and if they don’t bloom, I’ll just wait for next year.