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
Oh, my, what a beauty she is! And you can never go wrong with irises. Exquisite!
ReplyDeleteI knew nothing of peonies until I bought my first home and there were several bushes. I had no idea what I had and they were mown down in short order. What a nitwit I was!
ReplyDeleteThe irises and that painting is a beautiful idea! Lovely!
I have many peony bushes in my flower-gardens thanks to my grand-mother and I love them. As soon as I read this I thought of the poem I had lying open in front of the computer!:)
ReplyDeletePeony by Bliss Carmen
Peony
“Pionia virtutem habet occultam.”
Arnoldus Villanova.—1235-1313.
ARNOLDUS Villanova
Six hundred years ago
Said Peonies have magic,
And I believe it so.
There stands his learned dictum
5
Which any boy may read,
But he who learns the secret
Will be made wise indeed.
Astrologer and doctor
In the science of his day,
10
Have we so far outstripped him?
What more is there to say?
His medieval Latin
Records the truth for us,
Which I translate—virtutem
15
Habet occultam—thus:
She hath a deep-hid virtue
No other flower hath.
Whten summer comes rejoicing
A-down my garden path,
20
In opulence of color,
In robe of satin sheen,
She casts o’er all the hours
Her sorcery serene.
A subtile, heartening fragrance
25
Comes piercing the warm hush,
And from the greening woodland
I hear the first wild thrush.
They move my heart to pity
For all the vanished years,
30
With ecstasy of longing
And tenderness of tears.
By many names we call her,—
Pale exquisite Aurore,
Luxuriant Gismonda
35
Or sunny Couronne D’Or.
What matter,—Grandiflora,
A queen in some proud book,
Or sweet familiar Piny
With her old-fashioned look?
40
The crowding Apple blossoms
Above the orchard wall;
The moonflower in August
When eerie nights befall;
Chrysanthemum in autumn,
45
Whose pageantries appear
With mystery and silence
To deck the dying year;
And many a mystic flower
Of the wildwood I have known,
50
But Pionia Arnoldi
Hath a transport all her own.
For Peony, my Peony,
Hath strength to make me whole,—
She gives her heart of beauty
55
For the healing of my soul.
Arnoldus Villanova,
Though earth is growing old,
As long as life has longing
Your guess at truth will hold.
60
Still works the hidden power
After a thousand springs,—
The medicine for heartache
That lurks in lovely things.
W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l !
ReplyDeleteTwo lines I love from this poem:
She gives her heart of beauty -- for the healing of my soul.
The medicine for heartache That lurks in lovely things.
Thank you so much, Janet!
Oh, yes, Brenda. Your peony is definitely swoon-worthy. Soooo lovely.
ReplyDeleteOur white and deep raspberry colored ones are out now, too.
Sniffing them propels me right back to childhood. I'm standing, as a little girl, in my paternal grandmother's side yard and the peonies are blooming, the chickens are cackling and all is right in the world. What a lovely time that was. Susan
Absolutely breath-takingly beautiful!! Our peonies are out around Memorial Day in May!! Love them!
ReplyDeleteI think peonies are my for-real-favorite flower. NOTHING smells as much like the very best of childhood... and people younger than I (a baby boomer) feel the same way. Peonies are graceful and so wonderfully old fashioned. Thank you for sharing such a treat.
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping in on my blog.
ReplyDeletePeonies are one of the most beautiful flowers, it's a shame the season is so short-lived.
I've never smelled any though. I'll have to do something about that.
Your peony is absolutely stunning! They are easily my favorite flower (though hydrangeas run a close second). When I was growing up, we had the deep red ones. One look at those ones and I am back in my childhood home.
ReplyDeleteFor me when I think of the work peony, it is the oh... so... fragrant smell. The colors are almost as wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSo when you throw in a Peony and an Iris, it's very close to perfection.
Oh, Brenda, your peony takes me back to when our oldest son was a toddler. He loved to help me cut peonies exactly like yours, to bring into the house to enjoy. Such warm memories....
ReplyDeleteYour peony is exquisite, all pale ruffles and pink softness. What a lovely, lovely specimen. Its beauty is one that can make the heart ache with longing for something beyond earth.
ReplyDeleteOh peonies...their beauty and their scent! When I think of peonies, I picture driving past old farm houses that have rows of peonies swaying in the breeze. It seems peonies like lilacs bushes, were main-stays of the farmhouse garden.
ReplyDeleteHope your enjoying your weekend!
This is such a beautiful post. I love how you open with a bit of nostalgia; it's both personal and universal, bringing us back to a simpler time. And yes, your irises are truly exquisite!
ReplyDelete