In the Garden

Pink Peonies

 

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When we bought the house in Maine, the only element in the landscape, which drew my attention, was what I believed to be a pink rose bush. I saw the blooms in passing, and imagined cutting roses for my table; a joy I have not truly had since living in California, where for a season, I had the privilege of tending someone else’s rose garden.

 

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Shortly after moving in, I lamented the missing rose bush, speaking many unflattering things about the people whom we purchased the house from, for digging up the rose bush! It turned out that I had been wrong on both counts, not only was it not a rose bush, but they had not dug up the peonies – they were simply dormant, having gone through another cycle of their life.

 

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Last year, I enjoyed them from afar, afraid to do anything to harm them; this year, I have decided to bring them into the house and enjoy them in my bedroom and on my dinner table.

 

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The flower is beautiful, truly a perfect specimen of God’s creation and appreciation for all that is lovely; and they are more fragrant, than any rose I can remember, which does not mean there are not many more fragrant roses, just that they are not a part of my memory bank, at the moment.

 

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I have and am still finding such great pleasure in these beautiful flowers; however, I have found that they do not last as cut flowers. My first suggestion, to anyone wanting to make a bouquet of peonies, is to pick flowers that are coming to the end of their bloom, outdoors, they will only last a couple of days either way.  The buds, I have found do not open, after cut, thus it is best to enjoy them outside.
Nevertheless, in trying to extend their beauty and scent, in my house, I cut the tops of the flowers, hoping to dry them to form some kind of potpourri. Wrestling with my joy of the flower and sorrow at its life span, while speaking with the women in my family who are also fond of the peonies, my niece pointed out how much she loved the perfume we gave her, last Christmas.  I got so happy to hear that, remembering how the poor sales clerk was so patient with us, as Kate and I smelled a dozen scents, telling the woman about Hannah, and what we thought would be appropriate, and how we came down to three different perfumes, before choosing a peonies scented fragrance – I suddenly stepped back and thought about how nice it is to hear you have given someone something they like, and then about how nice it is that there are others, in the world, who have already captured this flowers fragrance – I can rest easy.  I do not have to bottle their fragrance, someone else has already done that, it is covered!

 
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So today, I shall not worry about the peonies, instead I am going out to my wild field and dig up some daisy plants, to transfer them to the cut flower garden – perhaps I shall make a bouquet of them as well – happy first day of summer!

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