Peony Love - Henry Mitchell Suggested It's Time To Pull Up a Chair and Contemplate Peony Splendor

This ethereal beauty is 'Bartzella', one of the new Itoh peonies. I just picked it out of the garden this morning, where its dark, dissected foliage shows off the papery, ruffled blossoms to perfection. 'Kopper Kettle' is in bud, but not open yet.....can't wait for it to bloom....

There's a wonderful riff by Henry Mitchell - I think it's in his book"The Essential Earthman" - about how he's sick and tired of hearing people complain that peonies don't bloom long enough. Mitchell explains that all you need to do is make the most of the time they do bloom; forget about work, bring a chair out into the garden, sit around and contemplate peonies in all their glory. They bloom plenty long enough (let alone their fabulous, durable foliage) if you do your part in celebrating their flowering...I'm afraid I've done the modern day equivalent, and made this photo the desktop image on my computer....

Comments

[Riz Reyes]

I'll be giving a talk on peonies for the Seattle Chinese Garden this coming Sunday if anyone is interested in learning more about these fabulous plants. We'll have a few in flower to see as well (crossing fingers).

http://www.seattlechinesegarden.org/

How many of these Itohs do you have now, Val? Lovely, aren't they?!

[Valerie Easton]

Hi Riz,
I only have two - Bartzella and Kopper Kettle - I especially love the former because it blooms earlier and smells like lemon. Good luck with your talk on Sunday...

[Teri]

I purchased a kopper kettle last yr and was very disappointed. My plant bloomed cream and red with yellow streaks, nary a drop of copper color. Any way to amend my soil for a different palette? Understand Monrovia will be introducing a similar version with more vior named Picasso.

[local internet marketing services]

I'd rather go to a bookstore and look for this book. I love to encounter new words like peony. So, by reading his book, I think I can find some useful words.