Peonies, oh, how I love peonies! These are just a couple shots of my peony bush in front of the house as it is just starting to bloom. I received this bush from Bob for my birthday a few years back, so it along with us, are maturing together. There are a couple other peonies on the side of the garage but they are still small and so when they bloom they aren’t as impressive, but I ‘m sure, in time, they will be.PEONIES - A LIFELONG PASSION
My memories and love of peonies go way back into my childhood. My mom had peony bushes planted throughout our yard. There were some white ones and some pale pink ones. I always loved the peony-blooming time of the year. It always followed the lilac-blooming span so I could go out and cut lilacs for a while and then after that, I would clip off some peonies for arrangements in the house.
The peony bushes didn’t get their full appreciation when we – my brother and I – were little nubbins running around in the yard. We had a fence around the yard that kept us and the dog in. The peonies were planted along the edge of the front yard nestled up against the fence and in the backyard. The fence, well-intentioned, kept our dog in for a while until he finally started to tunnel underneath the fence. Once we found his little getaway exit, we were able to escape to, until my mother frantically found out what was happening. The hole was filled and a more vigilant patrol of our whereabouts ensued.
After a couple years the fence came down, and then the rest of the world was able to more fully appreciate the peony bushes.
After Bob and I bought and moved to our farm, a peony bush was one of my top priorities on my planting-to-do list. Accordingly, one year I put it on my birthday list, and was so surprised and thankful to see that he had bought me one. I planted it right in front of the house so that I could look out and see it daily while it was in full bloom. It wasn’t an enormous plant when he purchased it, but it didn’t take long for it to take off and after a couple years it has bushed out nicely. I have always put stakes around it to aid the delicate stems in holding up the gigantic blooms. I’ve always felt that the stem of a peony plant must have always had a strong “back” in order to shoulder the substantial weight of its magnificent blooms. If only the blossoms would survive longer than they do.
Can I give you a little Greek mythology lesson on the peony? The peony is named after Paeon, a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; then Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. Paeon, a physician to the gods, obtained the plant on Mount Olympus from the mother of Apollo. It is said that once planted the Peony likes to be left alone and punishes those who try to move it by not flowering again for several years. Once established, however, it produces splendid blooms each year for decades. Believe me, I don't intend on moving them if I don't have to.
Mythology also tells that mischievous nymphs were said to hide in the petals of the Peony thus causing this magnificent flower to be given the meaning of Shame or Bashfulness in the Language of Flowers. I have a glider that sits next to the peony bush by the front walk. It is a very satisfying atmosphere to posture myself in the glider and take in the stupendous fragrance emanating behind me. When I see the magnificence of its blooms and take in the aromatic scent, I can understand why little nymphs would like to hide in the petals.
RAISE UP YOUR HANDS – THE LILAC GIRLS ARE IN THE HOUSE
It is the same when wandering through my backyard when the lilac bushes are in full bloom. In fact, I generally don’t even have to wander into the backyard. All I need to do is walk out the front door and I am swept away with the grandiose bouquet that surges forth from lilacs bushes.
There is a whole lilac family of girls in my backyard – I call them the “girls” because of their age, height and the magnitude of their blossom-bearing abilities. There are the Mother and the Grandma who are very aged and consequential in size. The Mother spans 15 feet or so and sports a height of 10-12 feet; and the other, the Grandma, is approximately 20 feet in length/width and is probably at least 12-15 feet tall. When Bob got a chainsaw last year, and since both of these old ladies were no longer producing the quantity of lilacs I had wished, my plan this year was to do some really good pruning on some of their more gnarly and interestingly-shaped branches. I’m assuming, now, that they are not hard of hearing and understood my intentions considering the fact that this Spring they proved they were not neither baron nor infertile anymore by producing tons of lilacs in spots I hadn’t seen in years. Which, in itself, is a lesson to all you doubters out there, we women can sure surprise the hell out of you when we want to. (Sometimes we just need a little prodding). Fortunately, for these old colorful flirts, there will be no trim jobs this year, except around the bases. Their limbs will stay untouched; hence, they can try to surprise me yet another year.
Additionally, there are three more offspring in the backyard, two of which I did not even realize at first were lilacs. There is the Aunt, the Older Sister and Baby Girl. The Aunt stands South of the Mother while the Older Sister and Baby Girl stand in a westerly line with the Mother. Baby Girl is just West enough to peek around the corner of the house to see the statuesque Grandma watching over her. The Aunt and Baby Girl were shaped like lilacs but for years never produced any flowers. I thought they might just be another wanton sapling looking for a place to roost and bear its soul. Without anything productive paying its rent, I was not going to have any part of it – hence the contemplation of cutting to topple its essence. A couple years ago, Baby Girl (now about 5 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide) came out in full glory. Just in time, too, as she was about to be chopped down. Again, I was ambushed by this little delight when all of the sudden it bore blossoms in a voluminous fashion. It was as if she was trying to stand up and shout “I Am Woman Hear Me Roar!”
The Aunt, on the other hand, who I assumed was just a baron old spinster, surprised me last year by also producing a mountainous array of lilacs. This maiden is as tall as the Mother but having not borne offspring, she has maintained her girly figure and is not as wide at only about 5 feet or so. The Big Sister, on the other hand, realizing that she is the matriarch forerunner, has always earned her keep since we have been there. She is about 5 feet in width with a height of about 6-7 feet. And she stands about 10 feet from her Mother.
I have another hole in the yard which I have never filled it and it is directly West of Baby Girl. I am not sure if at some point in time there was another lilac in there or what but I have never filled it in. Recently I had purchased an Elderberry and was going to plant it in there but I somehow changed my mind. For some reason, I feel that if I planted something else in that spot, other than a lilac, it would be almost sacrilegious. It is like there is a bloodline being followed in this straight path across the backyard almost circling back to Grandma.
Since all my lilacs are lavender in the backyard, I have been mulling over adding a white or pink lilac in this devoid little spot. It may be the start of a whole new pedigree in the O’Connor Lilac Girls’ lineage. She would then become the new lil’ baby girl in a group of overbearing, dignified visions of the fairer sex.
Hmmmm . . . I’m thinking there might be a new baby at the farm very soon!!
No comments:
Post a Comment