Sunday, June 01, 2014

GRANDPA’S PEONIES

I grew up with yards full of peonies. My Grandpa planted hundreds of them. Really. They surrounded our property in the Poconos. Shortly after I bought this place here in VA, my father dug up some peony roots and brought them down here and planted them around the place. It took them a while to get going, but now I have a couple dozen beautiful plants here and there around the yard. one nice thing is, they don’t all bloom at the exact time, so it seems to stretch their blooming time out much longer. They tend to start as the azaleas are finishing, sometimes blooming with the iris, sometimes not. I consider them real treasures but am still surprised when folks stop out front to ask what they are since they seem to grow so well here.

DSC_0688  DSC_0687 DSC_0662  DSC_0335  DSC_0356   DSC_1623 DSC_0719  DSC_0722   DSC_0721 

DSC_0707  DSC_0708

But probably my biggest treasure (plant wise) is something I have been told does NOT grow around here, and that is this Mountain Laurel. It is now well over 5 feet tall, the tallest point being over my head. I have 2 Mountain Laurels, the other one is much smaller and did not bloom this year. I think they do better when we have had a cold winter. Well, last winter sure qualified! Can you get a sense of the size of this plant?

DSC_0350  DSC_0715  DSC_0716  DSC_0717             While taking these peony pictures, Spook came out to visit Hadji’s grave. It is so weird, he goes out there each morning and sits for a spell.                      DSC_0706

3 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Nice to see your beautiful flower postings once again, Possum.
You have been missed in blog-land, but understandably things happen in people's lives which take precedence.

Ginnie said...

I had no idea that there were so many different peonies. Also, my daughters favorite is Mountain Laurel and I am going to send your post on to her. I think she was of the opinion that Mountain Laurel was basically a New England bush.
Great pictures and be sure to check UNlimiters Monday !

spaceflighter said...

Rose took a piece of her grandmother's peony in WVa back here to the Shore. It has thrived. She has others planted, but none compare to grandma's.