Open thread. Looks like we need one!
My tree peony blooms opened yesterday. We came very close to a freeze last night, but it made it. The sheet I covered it with lasted about 2 hours and then blew off.
Here’s a close-up of one of the flowers. There are about 35 on the plant, and of course tonight we are getting a hard rain from 7pm tonight until noon tomorrow, so these guys are all gonners goners by morning.
I thought you guys could enjoy them with me this afternoon.
(Pairing this with an I Got the Shot! thread.)
WaterGirl
Maybe we don’t need a new thread, there’s nobody here!
raven
The Bodhi visited a donkey, mini-horse and old dogs today.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I like the quiet.
Mary G
So beautiful! I’ve never seen a peony in person, but they are spectacular in pictures.
Fair Economist
I am spending less time here than in the horror years. It just feels less urgent without the constant threat of imminent disaster.
That said, the ongoing Republican plans to steal future elections probably deserve a lot of attention.
Another Scott
Pretty flowers and a nice plant. It’s a shame that so many showy plants aren’t showy very long, but that’s part of what makes life special.
In other news, Reuters:
The continuing saga of Brexit sagas on…
Cheers,
Scott.
West of the Rockies
Meanwhile, in California it’s about 87° and breezy. Right now I wish all arsonists terminal Covid.
WaterGirl
@raven: I bet that was fun for him.
Everybody got the memo about colors, except one.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Fair Economist:
the mid-terms are the next most-important-election-of-our-lifetimes
raven
@WaterGirl: He was ok, mostly laid in the shade and then wanted back in the van. I have video of him chasing Llama’s out there about 10 years ago.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: My regular peonies haven’t opened yet, but the “tree peony” opens earlier than the regular ones do.
Someone like Dan B. will have to tell us why tree peonies are called that, and what makes them different, besides what the blooms look like.
This is what my regular peony looks like. All the blooms come up at the top instead of all over the bush. (blooms haven’t opened yet, obviously)
Elizabelle
@raven: A good day for the animals of Athens, GA.
@watergirl: I hope your peonies last longer than one day. They’re beautiful, and too fragile for our unpredictable weather, no?
Cheryl Rofer
I love tree peonies! In my last house, I had a bush that big. The flowers were pinker, but with those beautiful yellow centers.
Here’s one of mine today.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: They would last much longer than a day, if it wasn’t going to rain for 10 hour straight!
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: Lovely color!
WaterGirl
@raven: Yeah, Tucker is slowing down, too.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Last year I planted some “Itoh” peonies for a customer. My understanding is that Mr. Itoh, a Japanese horticulturist, developed them by crossing tree peonies with regular. They are blooming now, and are quite pretty.
dexwood
@WaterGirl: A thread for introverts.
raven
@WaterGirl: We’re going to the beach Monday and hoping we can help him navigate the steps. We thought he was a goner when we were there in October so we have to look at this as a real gift at almost 17 years old.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: The google tells me that an Itoh peonies are a cross between regular peonies and tree peonies (aka wood peony because the stems are woody).
You should send me a pic, or you could send photos to Anne Laurie for the garden chat.
WaterGirl
@raven: I hope it goes well! I remember the October trip. You have had more extra time with him than you expected.
debbie
Haven’t noticed any peonies around here yet, but the azaleas are brilliant, despite a lot of rain. Also, whatever kind of lilacs it is that have smaller flowers on smaller bushes are growing like crazy
Also, spirea (Bridal Veil?) is everywhere.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Well, they are not exactly going on in my garden. But I could package them with a pics from my friend Joan’s yard, with its many planting beds, vegetable and flower. I help her some with weeding and digging.
I also hope to make up a submission, titled “Garden Adjacent Paving,” with pics of some walkways and patios I’ve done. Might be good for the slow times in winter when the plant pics stop showing up
I’ll try to send you a picture of an Itoh peony. Digital dinosaur that I am, it would be good practice.
WaterGirl
@debbie: It’s a great year for the white spirea here – it’s everywhere! And it’s very happy.
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I think that sounds really interesting.
WaterGirl
I am catching up on 3 seasons of Suits this weekend – because I am supposed to be doing my taxes this weekend, and I have to have them done by Monday morning. So of course I am catching up on Suits!
planetjanet
Peonies are my favorite flowers. Thank you, Watergirl. They are lovely.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I read Heather Cox Richardson’s news letter every morning, and today’s depressed me. It can happen here.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I could throw in a picture of a large elliptical raised bed I built last year out of two pallets of irregular stone. I haven’t been back since my customer planted it, so I need to get by and take pictures.
I had never built an ellipse before. Once I figured it out, though, the layout was easy as pi.
mrmoshpotato
CUBS WIN! and Go Fish!
Elizabelle
RE Heather Cox Richardson: she has a new book out, How the South Won the Civil War.
Here’s a 30 minute segment she did for Seattle public radio’s Crosscut conference this week. Hearing it was too short and technical difficulties, but the small segment I heard live sounded fascinating. Going to google and catch her other virtual book tour stuff (assume that will be available).
Here’s link to all the Crosscut programming; videos of Amy Klobuchar discussing antitrust, a speech by Nancy Pelosi, etc. Lot of good content, it would seem. I hope you are able to access it, and they are not sticky about having had to preregister. (Most of the content was free, but ticketed.)
ETA: That book on the Civil War came out last June. Although: news to me. Easy to find an hour long youtube from DC’s pre-eminent bookstore, Politics and Prose (right close to Comet Pizza, wink wink — the pedophiles in the basement restaurant …)
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Ha!
That sounds cool. You should do it!
Beth
@WaterGirl: That peony is so lovely!
Have just discovered tree peonies this spring, after a move from the SF to the Seattle area, and have fallen in love with them. My problem is that no one ever seems to label many of them, so when I see a gorgeous photo, I don’t know what to look for to get one myself. Do you or anyone else have some suggestions? I love the showy ones that look like old Chinese paintings, much like yours. I hope they make it through the rain.
Van Buren
Mrs. Van Buren and I are convinced that Tree peony blossoms cause heavy rain, as that has happened pretty much every year for the last 15 years.
WaterGirl
@debbie: My azalea I planted in 2019 (too late for flowering that year) got only a few flowers last year, but someone here recognized which one it was a a post last year. I can count about 10 buds looking out my window just now, but nothing has opened yet.
It seems to be a great year for azaleas around town, though. I am hoping for the first they sleep (2020) then they creep (2021) then they leap (hopefully next year!).
WaterGirl
@Van Buren: For me, it has been that way every year until now.
With the frost last night, I figured that was the substitute for the heavy rain this year. But then I saw the 10 hours of heavy rain forecasted for tonight.
I guess they are meant to be a fleeting beauty?
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: They’re suggesting Chicago will get some slushy snow tonight. Ugh, but it’s May, slush wont last long.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
They’ll be important for the next decade.
Cheryl Rofer
@Beth: There is at least one company that specializes in tree peonies. Try googling “tree peony” and I’ll bet it will come up. I used them years ago, have forgotten the name.
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies:
Windy as hell in the Central Valley, and we got a radio alert for evacuations due to a fire north of Chico.
I checked, it’s still May. ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
for your amusement… A Tesla pick-up truck was driven through Manhattan. I’m agnostic about Musk, can’t afford a Tesla, but the replies made me laugh.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: Yup, and state-level elections, too. It matters who works in your state capital.
Jay
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: Yeah, last night was our might to get down to 35, and Monday and Tuesday nights. In between, we get rain from 6pm until noon tomorrow.
It seems that the weather is out to get my tree peony blooms, one way or another. I am not altogether happy with Mother Nature at the moment.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Especially 20XX!
WaterGirl
@Beth: Somehow I missed this until I saw Cheryl’s reply!
I have only seen tree peonies at the higher end nurseries, not at places like Lowe’s. Not sure if that’s the case everywhere or not.
I just googled, and Brecks seems to have a tree peony that looks a lot like mine, but maybe with a slightly brighter pink color.
For me, it’s the second one on the top row.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: This is going to be an awful fire season down here in SoCal, we’ve had very little rain this year.
J R in WV
We never hit 60 here today, don’t know if it will frost again tonight, sure hope not, the wild flowers and plants we have put in are all so beautiful this spring, so far. They aren’t calling for frost, low of 45, so we should be OK.
Rob
@WaterGirl:
Your tree peonies are gorgeous, WaterGirl.
WaterGirl
@Rob: Why, thank you!
I do love them, and they all open within the same day or two.
What I don’t understand is that if there is ALWAYS a big rain the day after they all open, what happens when your tree peonies open the day before mine and the other neighbor’s tree peonies open a day later? Do we get hard rain for an entire week?
Or do the tree peonies somehow know when a big rain is coming, and they all open the day before. Are they robots???
Platonicspoof
@WaterGirl:
Can you beg, borrow or steal a large deck umbrella with a heavy base to protect your tree peony?
Or a couple sawhorses and a sheet of plywood?
WaterGirl
@Platonicspoof: I have actually thought about a big deck umbrella, but the tree peony has grown so much that the back of it is up against the fence.
I swore I would figure something out in advance this year, but I obviously didn’t get it done. It’s so big. This is the photo of it when I covered it with a sheet yesterday before the freeze last night. This is a queen size fitted sheet, and it barely fit!
It’s really big.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Maybe your tree peonies are related to trees in the Amazon that make their own rain??
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Huh. That was really interesting! thank you.
I wonder if one of those little beach partial umbrella things might work to protect the tree peony from the rain, but I think they might be too short. I may have to measure for next year.
WaterGirl
And the rain has started. Maybe it can just be a light rain instead of a heavy rain. That would help!
Beth
@Cheryl Rofer:
Thanks! I’m going to get some this year, for sure!
Beth
@WaterGirl:
Thanks so much, I’ll go take a look! I know they take a few years to bloom, but they are just so very lovely.
WaterGirl
@Beth: I had bought a bunch of different plants that year and the tree peony settled in and took right off.
Mine bloomed the very first year and it has bloomed every year since then. Each year it has gotten bigger and bigger, with more and more blooms.
I bet I had 7 blooms the first year, and I was absolutely thrilled. Now I’m at about 35.
Go for it!