A trip to the American Peony Society yearly meeting and exhibition in Mansfield Ohio in the 1980’s-I cam home knowing I had to grow peonies. I also knew I would have a very tough time choosing which of a few I would grow. So I grew them like crops, in long grass-infested rows. I have no idea where this grass came from, nor do I know what grass it is. Do you? They did amazingly well with this less than ideal care. Peonies are very persistent and long lived. By the time I sold that first garden property, the patch probably had 400 peonies in it.
paeonia lactiflora hybrids
peony Raspberry Sundae
Japanese peony Do Tell, and double cerise pink peony Kansas
Japanese peony Whitecap
peony patch
peony Festiva Maxima
peony Pink Dawn
peony Princess Margaret
peony Kansas
peony Coral Charm
Every rose, every tree, every bird and bee
Seem to rate a rondolet or two.
So a slight poetic push for my favorite bush
Would seem to be long overdue.
‘Twas the peony bush there in my garden
That made you turn around and smile at me.
Not the zinnias or gardenias with their fragrant perfume,
Forget-me-nots in fancy pots or orchids in-a bloom;
But the peony bush there in my garden
It did the trick as quick as one-two-three.
Please decorate my garden gate forever
And never will there be any bush,
But the peony bush for me.
— from “The Peony Bush” as recorded by Danny Kaye
Just lovely Deborah– I have a clump of Festiva Maxima, which has been passed down through 3 generations now, it’s easily 70 years old and still going strong!
Dear Dave, it is amazing how persistent they are. Out in Macomb township, which is farmland to the north and east of us, you can spot random rows of peonies and asparagus-a strong indication of a farmhouse that once stood there. Deborah