Peony Porn

I went abroad recently, all the way to Belgium, to visit a Peony nursery with my garden club.

Fun was had by all and we really were in Peony heaven that lovely Sunday morning.

 Their collection of Peonies is vast and quite a few were in flower.

If you are into spectacular blooms, ones that really hit you in the eye with bells on, then you can't go wrong with Peonies.

 Some have flowers as big as cabbages, some are scented and some have very decorative seedheads.

ET, phone home!

 But there are also Peonies that have a more modest sized flower. This one has a pretty and rather unusual orange colour.

Some Peonies get rather big, this one will be 2 by 2 meters across once it's finished growing.

I like it a lot as its flowers are a very pretty yellow and not so in your face. A pity it gets so big and I simply don't have the space for it. Especially as Peonies flower for a short time only and in my garden the plants really have to earn their keep.

As you probably know, Peonies come in shrubs and trees. The shrubs you don't want to plant deep at all but rather just below the surface but the Peony tree needs to be planted deeply, preferably 10 to 12 cm deeper than it sits in its pot. Both don't like to be moved and can remain in the same spot for 50 years or so. But, if for some reason, you do have to move them; dig them up and split them into 3 or 4 seperate pieces and then plant them together again. By rejuvenating you have the bestest chance that the Peony will survive the move. Peonies are easy to grow; they need a sunny spot and a bit of chalk once a year and that's pretty much it.

This Peony is imitating an Hellebore as it also hangs its flower heads. As Peonies go, this one was quite elegant.

Hope you enjoyed the Peony porn although I'm wondering what kind of people this post will also attract considering its title. ;-)

copyright 2010 Y.E.W. Heuzen