If I say the word 'peony' to you, what is the first thought or picture that pops into your head?
Are you a little girl in your mom's flower garden? Or your grandmother's? Are you burying your nose in one of these old-fashioned blossoms hoping you don't sniff in an ant by mistake? Relishing that heady scent that you can't quite describe? What about feasting your eyes on the colourful bouquets sitting regally atop a laced covered table at a wedding or bridal shower?
For me, I just have to catch the faintest whiff on a breeze and I'm a young girl off with her mom (and younger sisters) to a bridal shower. I loved bridal showers as a girl. The excitement of watching the bride-to-be opening her gifts from well wishers, the laced covered dining table festively decorated with pretty china and vases of peonies just picked from the garden (whoever heard of using flower shops out in the country in the early 1960's). I suppose wedding showers were held at other times of the year too, but in my mind's eye, all bridal showers were held in June when peonies were at their peak.
Many gardeners grow
peonies for sentimental reasons. These old-fashioned flowers may remind
them of their childhood or a grandmother's garden. Peonies are lovely in
the garden or as cut flowers indoors. Their fragrance varies, depending
on the cultivar, as well as the time of day. Peonies are most fragrant
in the morning before their volatile oils dissipate with the heat of the
day.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8301965_do-peonies-smell-like.html
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8301965_do-peonies-smell-like.html
So... did you know that peonies are most fragrant in the morning before their volatile oils dissipate with the heat of the day? I don't think I knew that (before I Googled), but I'm going to check it out in the morning. This beauty was picked late afternoon when I saw its petals unfurled. The fragrance is filling the house. One single blossom. I'm Swooning!
On a different vein, my Siberian irises were begging for a pose of their own, so below I give you this pair of lovelies ... as they coyly blend into the oil painting I used as a background for the photo. Aren't they exquisite?
Truly, my glimpse of heaven in an unexpected moment. For early this morning when we arrived home from work at eight a.m., the peonies were still in bud form. The warm sunshine surely coached them into showing off today.
"... and they open --- pools of lace, white and pink... "
from Mary Oliver's Peonies poem
Wishing you a a beautiful evening,
Photo source: (c) Brenda Leyland, 2014
