Of all the early summer flowers, I love the peony best of all! They are kind of like wide open roses on steroids and even smell a bit like them. I don’t remember if or where we might have had a peony plant in my childhood yard, but I do remember where a few blooming plants were throughout the neighborhood. My affinity for pink just makes my obsession with peonies all the more delightful.
Native to Asia, Europe and Western North America, current consensus is that there are some 33 known species of this flowering plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the Paeoniaceae family. There six types of flowers amongst the many varieties include single, Japanese, anemone, semi-double, bomb and double. It is known in China as the “flower of riches and honor” and is Indiana’s state flower. Mischievous nymphs were said to hide in peony petals giving it the meaning of “shyness or bashfulness” in the Language of Flowers. Throughout history, there have been a handful of famous painters of peonies whose work is often seen on posters and cards. Several cities in China host annual peony festivals and there are some well-known peony farms throughout the upper Midwest. The Netherlands is the largest peony cut flower producing country in the world with about 50 million stems each year harvested. A later summer harvest is available from Alaska due to its long days and later growing season. The Sarah Bernhardt variety dominates sales and is probably what we see most often in household gardens.
Most perennial peony plants grow 1-3 feet tall but some are woody shrubs that can get up to 11 feet tall. With primary colors in all hues of pink they also come in red, yellow and white varieties. They have a short blooming season, usually only 7-10 days so enjoy them while you can. With the wind blowing ferociously out here at the lake last week, I cut all of my blooms and brought them in the house to enjoy rather than watch them get beat up by the wind. Their morphology, phyto-chemistry, genome and taxonomy read with a lot of unfamiliar words and seems a bit complicated to me so if you want that info Wikipedia is your source. Their flower bud nectar attracts ants but does not harm the flowers. The plants don’t like a lot of direct watering so keep them away from your sprinkler system and you need to know what you are doing when you cut them back after blooming or you could inadvertently snip off next year’s blooms.
This weekend I took a car load of ladies to the peony farm. Yes, that’s right; there is a hidden peony farm in our neck of the woods. Its owner is a world renowned peony expert and he has even propagated his own varieties which have been shipped around the world. He has over 200 varieties and 2000 plants and his flower fields are a sight to behold during blooming season. He’s getting older and with a few health problems is thinking about his exit plan. Says he is putting things aside for his transition to the nursing home but I think he is a pushing the envelope on that move. I mean, who will tend the peonies? If I have a remaining dream unrealized, it is to operate a hobby farm and flowers seem like the answer to me. When I came home and announced I had put in an offer on a peony farm, Paul’s immediate response was: “Are you f^*%^*ing nuts!” Well, maybe a little but my interest hasn’t waned.
Upon purchase, my first task would be to hire a farmer as I am way beyond doing much of the actual work myself to say nothing about having absolutely no equipment or knowledge of how to use it. I came home from our delightful romp through the peony fields and took a long nap which probably doesn’t bode well for the venture either. Finally, there isn’t much money in flower farming, especially for a neophyte like me, so it would be one heck of an expensive hobby with serious upfront costs and significant ongoing expenses. In conclusion, there is nothing rationale about this hair brained scheme but crazier ideas have manifested for those with passion, a will and a way!