Peony Season

An extravagance of color and perfume, the bloom almost-but-not-quite too weighty for the leggy stems, a striking focal point in the garden — or clumps of decadent pigment on parade at the far end of the lawn — each of these vignettes is reanimated from cinematic memory, lyric library, and art across centuries. Sunday marked the first day of peony season at Rosslyn. And rain Sunday, Monday, and now Tuesday notwithstanding, I’m flirting with these flamboyant ephemera, packing a peck of pleasure into their all too fleeting inflorescence.

The flâneur is he who consecrates his own life to the instant, to ephemeral things. — Federico Castigliano (Source: Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris)

I have little doubt that the brevity of peony season contributes to its cherished place in the seasonal succession ephemeral pleasures. Anticipation each year starts when spring’s first warming awaken the burgundy shoots from the cold soil. They’re premature, we worry, year after year.

But they endure cold snaps, frost, and hail, reaching and stalling, reaching and stalling, until knee-high a month and more after after poking out of the mulch, they’re ready for us to install the peony supports. Just in time for inclement weather.

No peony season escapes the anxiety inducing downpours that bend stems and spring optimism. The principal weather influence that affects the duration of our peony season is rain.

Inevitably rain will arrive, as if on cue, once the peonies bloom…

Pink plumage, printemps’
preterprecocious coquet,
flouncy peonies.

Perhaps micropoetry might capture a petal or three. And offering it up to the universe just might invite a rain free reprieve? (Source: Preterprecocious Peonies)

Blooms battered with rain lose their silky petals, and too their scent, honey sweet with echos of rosy spice and citrus.

Peony blossoms are lush and showy, exhibiting layer after layer of soft, arced petals that unfurl from a dense, ball-like bud into a puffy, bowl shaped sphere. Color ranges from pure white (sometimes with a splash of pink or fuschia) to pinks and magentas. There are also yellow peony varieties, though we do not currently cultivate them at Rosslyn.

Peony plants are some of the oldest perennials in cultivation… Herbaceous peonies assume a shrublike stature at 2 to 3 feet in height and width. Their leaves and stalks die to the ground after a killing autumn frost, but the rootstock remains very much alive, ready to send up those telltale red shoots the following April. (Source: Chicago Botanic Garden)

Peony Season Tips

Perhaps you would appreciate these useful tips for prolonging peony blossoms after cutting and ridding your peony blossoms of ants prior to bringing them indoors.

Here are few tips to extend the bloom of cut peonies indoors.

When cutting flowers from your plants, be sure to leave at least two sets of leaves on the stem so that the plant can continue to thrive.

You can select flowers that are as open as you like, but for the best vase life, select buds that have just begun to open and feel similar to a marshmallow. 

Cut stems can be stored in the refrigerator for two to three weeks, but…no fruit—such as apples—can be in the refrigerator with your peonies. The ethylene gas emitted by ripening fruit will cause petals to drop, and buds to wilt and fail to open…

Got ants? Ants love the sweet nectar of peonies as they begin to open. I dunk the blossom end of the stem in cool, clean water for 30 seconds to rid the ants from the flower before bringing the flowers into the house. — Stephanie Lindemann (Source: Chicago Botanic Garden)

NB: You may appreciate the detailed gloss of peony flower anatomy available through at the American Peony Society.