I want to start this off by saying I don’t exactly have a pink thumb. It’s more of a light red, I guess. Anyhow, I have been living in my house for almost four years now and in that time my wife and I have done a little bit of landscaping, planting flowers in our flower beds and weeding (mostly weeding). We also inherited some nice flowers from the previous owners.
One of our favorite inherited plants are our Peony Bushes. I always look forward every year to when they bloom, and this week they are blooming, greeting me every time I travel the walkway from my car to the house. I recommend the Peony Bush to anyone who is looking for a low maintenance, yet beautiful perennial. We really don’t do anything to them other than water them and they seem so hearty I don’t really think we have to do that.
The moment the snow melts off the ground, the peony’s start poking their little selves out of the ground. Soon, they begin to form large green bushes. Not long after that they begin to bud and if you look closely you can see tiny ants all over them. Don’t freak out. The ants are vital to the Peony, as they slowly eat at the buds, eventually allowing them to flower. Very cool.
The Struggling Writer 
But I was afraid. My Grandmother had these bushes in her yard in Regina Saskatchewan. When I was a little kid I remember watching them with the ants. But I could never get really close as I was afraid of them. Yes I am afraid of ants, goes back to a snippet of a horror film I saw inadvertantly involving ants. I was such an impressionalbe kid.
I’m over it now. But spiders, that’s another story.
Chris – thanks for stopping by. Sorry about the ant fear. These really are pretty flowers, though, even if seem from afar π
I love these flowers and have a rather good-sized bunch in my yard. They do seem to be rather hardy, but they are a little top-heavy when blooming and I usually have to tie them up to prevent the rain from knocking them over. The blooms smell wonderful!
Brian – You are correct. They can get top heavy though I haven’t had to tie mine up. They do smell great though, as you say.
I love my peonies! π
Heather
Hi, I see that you use my image from the Wikipedia Commons. However, you forgot to read the license – it is an attribution required for using it. Please check this before you use further images and please attribute this image to me as it should.
best wishes, Ulf