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Paeonia |
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| | Shiny leaves, buds a-bursting - a marvel of the mid-spring garden |
| Common name |
garden peony |
| Family |
paeoniaceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial |
| Flowers |
various colors (spring) |
| Size |
3-4' |
| Light |
sun |
Long-lived perennial - no garden is complete without one. We, in fact, have two, that have lived in our side garden since it was first constructed. One is a plain pink, the other deep magenta, and both suffer from peony flop syndrome: without fail, within a day or so after the huge flowers open, a thunderstorm sweeps through, weighs the blooms down so they kiss the soil around them, and creates a generally disheveled look. A few weeks later, the task of retrieving the slimy decomposing flowers isn't among my favorite gardening chores. But it's all worth it, for the flowers that do survive, for the buds that are so full of promise already weeks before they open, and even for the wonderful new growth in early spring, truly a harbinger of the gardening season that's about to burst into full action.
Of course, if I weren't so adverse to staking and supporting plants, a lot of those negatives could be dealt with nicely. As is, I usually remember to tie the entire plant to a metal fencepost to try to keep most stems upright - but a better strategy is required to counteract the flop syndrome fully effectively...
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: side garden About my plant portraits
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Last modified:
November 26, 2006
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