Peony: Paeonia Lactiflora, A Bowl Of Beauty

Peonies are a staple heirloom flower in my garden.

I have taken a series of photographs to show you what this herbaceous perennial looks like as it begins to entertain us with its blooming potential.

As this plant is a perennial, it means that in the part of Canada (where I reside) this plant goes dormant for 6 months of the year. It dies completely off in the Fall, gets buried by snow for the Winter and emerges in the late Spring so that it can flower by early Summer.

I want you to be able to see what I see as I tend to my plants.

This first photo, I took was in “portrait mode”.

Notice that the background is softer and the flower is bathed in late day, light as the sun was thinking about setting in the west.

A few days earlier and this large, showy flower was but a mere tightly compact bud...not much of anything really to grab your attention.

Some people think that ants play a role in helping these flowers to fully open. They peony buds produce a nectar that ants like but the peonies will open with or without the help of ants.

Here’s the progression of the blooming over 3 days:

I took some photos in the early morning light and some photos late in the day.

There are over 6500 different varieties of peonies.

Some are more like plants and some are quite woody and are more like a shrub.

Then, there are hybrids, (which are known as ITOH or intersectional peonies.)

The ITOH peonies are a healthy cross between a tree and plant peony and I think these look more like wild roses.

The plant-style peonies can generally grow 3 to 4 feet tall.

The shrub varieties are more commonly known as Tree Peonies. They are originally native to China, can be referred to as mountain peonies and can grow 7 feet tall.