There are two things in life that instantly make me happy.
The first is filling my car up with gas. Not because I love filling my car up with gas. I hate filling my car up with gas. As far as life's little pleasure's go, it's right up there with the family pet's wretched breath waking you up in the morning. No, filling my car up with gas makes me happy because I know once I drive out of the gas station I have another 500 kilometres to go before I'll have to do it again.
The second thing that makes me happy is when my Peony bush blooms. No that is not a euphemism.
A rose by any other name is a Peony. Of all the women I know 90% of them would name the Peony as their favourite flower. I'm completely making that statistic up, but it's somewhere around true. It's political true, as opposed to hand over heart true.
You can create a beautiful arrangement with a single Peony. Can't say that about a rose. Yes, a single rose is ... well ... cute. But it's no Peony.
If you have 2 or 3 Peonies, the simple beauty of them is almost breathtaking. Which gives Peonies another leg up if what they happen to take the breath away from is your family pet. Not alllll the breath. Just the bad breath.
Our cat let out some sort of gassy substance on the couch this morning. We didn't know if it was a toot or her breath. When you can't discern if the smell is coming out of the bum or the mouth, you know your pet has a breath problem.
Back to the Peony! After a year of waiting and a pretty miserable, cold spring my Peony bush has finally bloomed, which means I can finally cut a few flowers and bring them inside.
It's only been in the past couple of years that I've felt like my Peony bush was big enough to cut from. When you only have 3 flowers, it's kind of hard to whack one off and bring it inside. That's the thing about Peony's. They aren't what you'd call robust for the first few years. In fact they're downright touchy. The success you have when planting your Peony bush largely depends on how deep you plant it. They don't like to be moved. They like to stay put. They're like the Waltons.
So when you plant them, make sure you put them exactly where you want them. Once they're in, they're in. There's no moving them around. Not if you want them to flourish.
Also, if you're planting a potted Peony, make sure when you plant them, the soil line is exactly level. If you plant them too deep with the soil line from the pot lower than the soil line in the garden it could take years for the Peony to bloom for you. See? I told you. Touchy. It's not surprising though. Most beautiful things don't like to be disturbed. Case in point, Naomi Campbell. If you disturb Naomi Campbell she'll even take a swing at you.
The only thing you have to be mindful of with Peonies and bringing them indoors is their hitchhikers. Just tap the flowers while upside down a few times and you should be O.K. The flowers have to be upside down. Not you. Although that would work as well I suppose.
If you're thinking of planting a Peony bush, your best bet is to plant them in the fall. Not when they're blooming and looking all pretty in the garden centres in the spring. Planting in the fall gives the Peony the chance to develop a good root system, resulting in a faster blooming plant.
If you already have a Peony bush you can split it in the fall. Just make sure you don't disturb the roots too much and don't change the soil level. The splits, should have at least 3 or 4 shoots coming from it, and remember to plant them at the exact right soil level to keep it happy. You don't want it throwing a cell phone at your head out of anger.
When planted correctly a Peony bush can live for a century. That's 100 years of this ...
... and in the evenings ... this.
Every night when I walk through my dining room into the kitchen to get whatever snack it is I'm looking for I smile at the sight of my Peonies. And not just an inside my head smile. An actual smile.
This smile usually lasts exactly until my cat breathes on me.
This post made me smile! I absolutely ADORE peonies! I don't have a garden of my own yet, but when I do, bushes and bushes of them will be planted- mostly in the light blush pinks and cloud whites. In the meantime, I am draining my bank account at he farmer's market on Saturday's and the one by my office on wednesdays. So I sit and stare at my pretty, pretty peonies on my desk at work all day, and dream of having my own to cut!
Sarah - Yes! You need a peony bush. They're sooo expensive as cut flowers! ~ karen
Count me in with your made up statistics ! But those dratted ants drive me nuts when I want to smell my peomies, for fear I deeply inhale and get a few free ants up my nose, hahaha- aaarggh!
Sadly here in the UK we have had nothing but rain so I could take no pictures and now the peony show is over :( ..till next year.
I had some deep dark red ones in the cottage I lived in before and every year it was the same: start:leaves- then : pingpong size buds.. of course great excitement.. Wimbledon season.. the required and to be expected torrential rain.. and ... huge flowerheads all drooping and falling over in the mud...soo annoying....
LOL. Yup. It's a fast show made even quicker by rainstorms. Love Wimbledon by the way. LOVE it. ~ karen
I've never lived where winters make me wish for spring. Is that why I've never lived where the peonies grow? Do they need a hard winter? Maybe the lack of peonies in my life is why I hardly notice flowers at all. The blooms on a yucca plant are hardly worth a second glance.
Sara - I didn't know this, but apparently Peonies won't grow in a zone 9 or higher. They need the period of dormancy brought on by the cold weather. You could always buy some fake ones and wire them onto the yucca plant. That's an option. I'm always coming up with good ideas, aren't I? ~ karen
You DO have great ideas! :) And actually, I lied, because we do have one yucca (I think, but I cannot find name of it with a picture online to be sure) that actually IS worth a double take. The bottom leaves look like the hair of Medusa and during the summer it grows a few stalks about twenty feet tall covered in yellow flowers. When the blooms are spent, the stalk falls down and only Medusa remains. I'm pretty sure Dr. Suess was inspired by this odd flower. However, twenty foot tall stalks of yellow yucca flowers, while interesting, would not fit on my dining room table (if I had one) and they are not nearly as pretty as your peonies. Perhaps the peonies are nature's way of paying you for surviving winter. We who live in the updraft from hell in the summer are merely paid with a mild winter.
I love peonies, but I'm terrified to bring them inside because they are completely toxic to animals....do your cats ever try to eat yours?
I'd NEVER heard of peonies being toxic, so I did some internetting (so it has to be true...). From the sources I read, they're only toxic to dogs. And as a vet's daughter, I can tell you that I can't recall *ever* hearing of a dog eating peonies.
So haul an armload inside! :)
Sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to your question London. I can't guarantee a thing about Peonies or their poisonousness. I try not to say if I'm not entirely sure about stuff. However, I did get a picture sent to me by a reader. It was a picture of her cat eating a Peony. Apparently the cat does a lot of flower eating and looks healthy to me. This same cat also eats tulips though so clearly, it's a crazy cat. ~ karen
I love peonies as well. When we bought our current house (purchased in Nov 2004, but I didn't see it in person until Dec 2004 - a story for another day) I was pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeous sorbet peony bush in the front yard that spring. I've shared bits of that peony with friends and family and they just love it. A couple of years ago my mom's new neighbor decided she hated the previous owner's cottage style gardening and was going to dig up and throw out all the peonies. My mom rescued dozens of them and I ended up with about ten or so new bushes (after sharing some of my share). They took about three years to get decent blooms, but it was worth the wait!
Sh*t, is it too late to plant some now?? (Southern hemisphere)
ACVargis - Are you in Australia? As long as you can still find them in a nursery, and the ground isn't frozen you should be fine, but I'm worried you won't be able to find any! ~ karen
I used to think that Peonies were called "pee on mes" and I wondered why my mom loved the smell of "pee on me".
I felt compelled to share my talent for misunderstanding things.
Hah! ~ karen
In small-town mid-America where I grew up, it's a big deal in May to see if the peonies will bloom in time to take to the cemetery for Memorial Day. They're absolutely gorgeous, spilling out of everything from armed service vases to Mason jars.
(I hope that doesn't queer the deal for anybody!)
I have a Japanese Tree Peony, which is just out of this world. My absolute favorite for flowers. They come up the size of plate chargers, when fully open, smell just wonderful, and best yet....no need for ants to make the life cycle stuff happen. Yeah!!
I like the standard bush type peonies too...varieties are just endless now too. Well done!
I'd love to send a photo of one...just not sure how.
Cheers Karen,
Brenda J.
Brenda J. - If you aren't yet, join my Facebook Fanpage and post your picture there. You should be able to just upload it! I have no idea how you can post one to my site here unless you save the picture to an FTP site which seems a bit complicated for a picture of a Peony, LOL. ~ karen
I love these. Even as a little girl I remember picking the gross ants off because I thought they were going to ruin the soon to be pretty flowers.
I love your pictures!
I totally agree. Whenever I fill up my gas tank, I always think that it has to be a good day. Despite the amount of cash I just dropped to fill up, the possibilities are endless with a full tank of gas.
And peonies smell way better than roses (or gas!). My neighbor was nice enough to offer a peony plant to me (it was an odd-ball one that she had growing a few feet from her others). I sent her a thank you note after I planted it, and she told me that I just jinxed myself. According to her, if you send a thank you for flowers, they will not bloom. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Crazy! But maybe she's right, since it shows no sign of blooming this year!
Whitney - I've never heard of such a thing! I have the sense Emily Post would disagree! :) ~ karen
Pretty!
Your photos look great too! (I would say AWESOME but don't want to upset you in any way!)
Can't help but notice how clutter-free your dining table is. At present.....mine has a few projects on-the-go and looks disgusting!
Enjoy your flower season
Thanks Julie - My dining room table rotates between mess and nice quite frequently. ~ karen
I LOVE peonies! Most gorgeous flower on the face of Mother Earth. I grew up on the US east coast and we had one random peony bush in the middle of our forest-y lawn that we didn't plant or take care of, but it came back every year. Now that we live in California, it's much too warm for peonies - apparently they need to be frozen in the winter. I miss them so much. :(
I love this flower too, but the ants creep me out. My mom said to leave them floating upside down in a bucket to get them all out, but even that doesn't always work. I can't tell you how many times I thought FINALLY no ants, and then I see a little bugger happily crawling in and out.
So I just gave up, and keep them on the plant; that way I can relax and the ant can live their life outside as God intended.
Thanks for the planting advice, I will transplant this fall using the info from this post,
And also you are soooo funny, but you already know that, I think,
cheers,
Mary
I have been buying cut peony every week for the table. i live in apartment so planting isn't an option but when we move out to a house watch out garden centre. Thanks for all the great tips on planting I will be sure to remember.... or at least as again when at the garden centre standing there going 'i read something somewhere about how to plant them and they are touchy....... hummm i wonder what that was... oh I better ask!'
I think your statistic is right on. I was a wedding planner and the number one flower requested was a peony. Unfortunately, they're not the greatest of weddding flowers due to their 'sensitivity' - they will wilt faster than you can say "I do". But, a good florist will always make it work;)
Indeed - my fav flower. I'm spoiled every year with blooms from masses of 70 yr old plants in my parents' garden.
http://safaffect.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/pleasing-peonies/
And I just found this fab oil painting so I know have peonies in my place all year 'round.
http://safaffect.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/thrifty-find-blooming-beauties/
saf affect - I absolutely LOVE the white peonies with the deep purple centre. Love them. Want them. Immediately. ~ karen
Hilarious! Love this post Karen. :)
Peonies have been a hot topic here lately. We have two and they been a bit pathetic honestly for the 3 years... too much shade I think. I had given them 1 more chance this year this show up or they were going to sunnier backyards. Just this weekend 5 blooms opened on one bush. Maybe they can stay another year... or 97.
Love this post, and peonies!
Here's a question, though (I feel like you will have a good answer) - what are your tips on keeping cut flowers looking great for longer? I once heard a teensy bit of bleach in the water helps, but that frightens me.
I ask because I happen to have some peonies sitting on my coffee table, and they happen to look dead.
Lindsay - The best tip I can give you for keeping blooms in the house longer is to pick them sooner! Don't cut a flower that's already in full bloom. That's everyone's temptation. If you want to bring flowers in from outside cut ones that are still closed, or just barely beginning to bloom. I never use bleach or anything in my water. Occasionally I'll use the packet of "stuff" from a florist shop but rarely. Just keep your flowers in the coolest room in your house if you can. If not, at least keep them out of direct sunlight. This and cutting them when they're just barely starting to bloom will ensure they last longer. ~ karen!
Thanks Karen! :)
LOL blooming...
Dum dum. ;) I NEVER make spelling mistakes or gramatical erros.