Peonies popping

I think everyone who grows them knows: there's a tremendous design flaw to peonies. The flowers are too heavy for the stems. They smell heavenly, they're dramatic and exuberant blooms. But they seem to need the help of a million ants crawling on the buds in order to open properly, and they always seem to pop open about three hours before the heavy rains that beat them and batter them down to the ground.

This is the third year I've been in this house, and it's the first that saw more than a few buds on the peonies. There were dozens of buds promising a magnificent display.

So, I waited. And sure enough, I came home from work one afternoon with the skies heavily ominous, and the warning of severe thunder storms in the news. When I opened the door and went out with the dogs, I could immediately smell the perfume of the peonies in the air, and I knew that they had opened.

It got dark as night, and began to drizzle, so I ran inside to get my camera to capture the beauty.





By the next morning, the storm had destroyed the display, and by the next afternoon, 90% of the petals were on the ground, about to be mowed over by my tractor. I'm so glad I captured these few shots. I brought some of the petals inside, thinking that they might release some of the scent of peonies in a potpourri, but that didn't work.



They sure were pretty while they lasted, but someone's got to breed a variety with a stem that can hold up the flower! Anyway, I had some pink and some white. The white had a lovely pinkish blush in the center, and smelled heavenly. The pinks didn't have as much fragrance, but they had a deep, saturated color that was breathtaking while it lasted. And they did both look beautiful against the wet bushes in the glowering light before the storm hit.