Duchess de Nemours peony

Double Peonies

| Flower Roberts

These three hybrids are the best bloomers. Strong stems are a must. I missed staking the stems before a storm, so some ended up soaked on the ground. I will put circles in place earlier next spring to prevent this.


Karl Rosenfield has dozens of blooms on each plant. There are also multiple blooms per stem.

Karl Rosenfield peony



Sarah Bernhardt is slow to open. But the buds are gorgeous.

Sarah Bernhardt peony


Duchess de Nemour has slightly asymmetrical blooms.

Duchess de Nemours

This last hot pink p double is from my great grandma Pearson’s farm in Ohio. It now belongs to four generations of my family.

Pearson peony

I put some beside my mama’s pink urn at her memorial service this weekend. It felt right to have those flowers with Mama for her service.

Pearson family peony with Mama’s urn.

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After a Rain

| Flower Roberts

It rained last night. I love mornings in the garden after it has been refreshed by rain. The plants look so appreciative and perky.
Here are a few photos of my favorites sprinkled with sparkling drops.

Moonscene Amaryllis
Night Affair iris
Daphne de Nemours peony
Spider’s Web Fatsia

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Karl, Sarah and the Duchess

| Flower Roberts

I went away for a few days. There was a storm which dropped almost 2.5 inches of rain on my garden while I was gone.

The timing was bad for my big bloomers. I circle the garden with stakes every day I am home… but I was gone.

Big blooms do not fare well in heavy rain and wind. There were heads bent down and blooms on the ground. The double peonies had the most damage.

Karl Rosenfield was full of big floppy blooms that had to be gently shaken and supported.

Sarah Bernhardt only had a few blooms again this year. A move is in her future. I have mulched, fed and watered without much progress on her part.

Sarah Bernhardt peony

The Duchess de Nemours is thriving in her prime spot. She lost many blooms with buds on the same stalks.

Duchess de Nemours peony

I love double peonies but they do require extra support, especially in rain and wind. The doubles are worth the trouble.

Karl Rosenfield peony

They are the stars of May.

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Double Trouble

| Flower Roberts

I am a sucker for those heavy, double blooms. I love them despite their neediness.

Duchess de Nemours peony

They are the over-achiever flowers. They need extra care because they go for broke blooming.

Double bloom of Bill Troutman’s poppies

Rain wreaks havoc on them. Their poor little heads bow down with the water weight.

Duchess de Nemours peony

They need staking and shaking.

Sarah Bernhardt peony

Who can resist such extravagance?

My great grandma Pearson’s pink peony from Ohio

I will shake and stake every spring because these doubles are irresistible.

Karl Rosenfield peony

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The Burden of Beauty

| Flower Roberts

I love my single Peonies.

Krinkled White peony

I love their floppy petals and their dusty yellow centers.

But I adore the doubles.

Beauty can be a burden.

These blooms need staking.

They must be shaken lightly after rain to prevent broken stems.

Sarah Bernhardt Peony

I marvel at the loveliness of all those clustered petals.

Duchess de Nemours Peony

Oh, the burden of beauty!

Poor peonies.

Flower

Shopping During a Storm

| Flower Roberts

yI know, I complained about them last spring in “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble.”

https://floweralley.org/?s=peonies

Maybe they have changed…or I have changed.

My plan was to cut some of each type of flower to bring into the house.

My mother was coming.   She cannot walk the gardens anymore,

so I wanted her to see the blooms up close by bringing them in.

I have those eleven vases, you see.

https://floweralley.org/?s=eleven+vases

My daughter and I went shopping on Friday evening.  A violent storm hit while we were away.

Hundreds of my flowers were beaten down by the rain and wind.

Instead of cutting flowers for my vases on Saturday morning, I was cutting them to clean up.

By Saturday evening, only a few iris were left.  There were a few Columbine stems.

The only flowers worth their weight were those double peonies.

The very one that I complained about staking last spring.

Bowed, but held in the storm.

They filled one vase the iris another and that was enough.

Sometimes it takes just the right flower.

Not the large number, just a few.

Like friends.

Worth their weight in gold when you need them.

My apologies to my new friend the Duchess de Nemours Peony.

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Double, Double Toil and Trouble

| Flower Roberts

It’s peony(Paeonia) time here in North Carolina.

I love all types.  Singles, semi-doubles and doubles.

Krinkled White Single peony

The doubles are trouble though.

Duchess de Nemours double peony

They have such heavy blooms that they have to be staked.  Otherwise they dip down to the ground, especially after a rain.

I keep a supply of green stakes with open-ringed tops for this purpose.

Peonies like full sun and well-drained acidic soil.  They do not like to be divided.

If you must, divide them in  the fall.  Plant shallow.   Side dress with compost.

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Cut, Pull or Stake

| Flower Roberts

We had a hard rain yesterday evening.

My houseplants get booted outside for storms.

IMG_9832

Now that the sun is back, they must be dragged back in before scorching.

The main job now is in the garden.   Everything got really wet and heavy.

IMG_9876

So I put on my rubber clogs to assess the needs of the day.

CUT the flopped over bearded iris stems and the shriveled old blooms off.

IMG_9860
Night Affair   Could there be a more purple purple?

PULL the ten thousand weeds. (9, 000 are sweet peas.)

STAKE the tall stalks and stems of iris and peonies.

IMG_9869
Krinkled White Peony

I shall not complain about the rain.

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