I LOVE peonies. I suspect if I had to choose my favorite flower it would be a tough job - I love so many but peonies are most definitely at the top of the list of beautiful bloomers.
I grow flowers. I'm a grower of flowers. The majority of my gardens are classified as cutting gardens meaning they are planted primarily for the purpose of cutting the flowers that grow there. It's a tough thing to do. Even after all these years I am taken by the beauty of the gardens in bloom. It's always hard on cutting day. While I know they are headed for beautiful Urban Farmchick market bunches I also know that once cut the beauty of the gardens will be changed. The landscape altered yet again for another season.
I do have pretty perennial gardens which are undergoing a slow but steady overhaul this year but given the amount of time and energy the cutting gardens require of me, the perennial gardens are the last to get my full and undivided attention. A number of years ago I planted a whole bunch of peonies for the soul sole purpose of a cut flower. It is my intention every year to take lovely bunches of peonies to market and that does happen in small number. But, it also never fails that when the peonies are ready to be harvested, market day is too far away for them to last - even with refrigeration. So, alas, they are harvested for a different but ultimately beautiful purpose - for drying and eventually, wound into wreaths Moss Cottage style.
These lovely beauties along with some other interesting cuttings have been making their way onto the drying strings hanging in the living room. Today I had to light the wood stove to get them drying more quickly to prevent browning. Lets just say that having the wood stove burning on July 13 is a bit hard to take but as it turns out, the overnight temp tonight is forecast for 6 degrees!
The foxglove is most certainly another on the "list" and it's in full bloom along with the Gentian Sage. I don't think my cottage gardens would be complete without a foxglove or two, or ten. The stunning blue of the sage is a pretty sight, don't you think. I can hardly wait to see when all are in full bloom.
Happy Gardening - enjoy your bloomers!
I have a relatively new forest garden, which is mostly wild and green, woven through with lilies and irises and pansies and small flowers that seem to smile cheerily when they open each spring or summer. But this year, to my delighted surprise, I found one peony bud, after three years of watching the small plant grow without a flower. I am so excited about the emerging pink petals and check on it almost every hour to see if it has changed. I agree that they are spectacular flowers and I am so happy to have one growing in my garden!
ReplyDelete