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I wish Peonies bloomed all summer long!

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I wish Peonies bloomed all summer long. They are so lovely, so delicate and oh so short lived!

My peonies are long gone … they finished blooming in late June, but I just realized that I never posted a photo of my Peonies.

I only took pictures of my Peony Pecher Peonies this year. My Karl Rosenfield Peonies bloomed, but we were going through a very rainy period when they bloomed and then right after that it finally warmed up here in Toronto at the end of June and the blooms faded fast … too fast for me to capture them while they still looked beautiful!

Anyway … here’s a picture of my lovely Peony Peacher bloom.

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This peony has a beautiful scent. In fact, after a huge rain storm in June, back when we discovered one of trellises had broken and snapped some rose branches, I gathered some lovely scented Baron Prevost roses, one peony and a few hosta leaves for accent and made a bouquet to bring indoors to enjoy. The rose and peony scent filled the house for two or three days! Once the rose scent faded, the peony scent took over for another day or so. Simply lovely to have such scented flowers indoors!

Do you grow Peonies? Do you bring a cut flower or two indoors so you can enjoy their loveliness and beautiful scent? What other flowers do you enjoy bringing indoors?






A broken trellis brings indoor rose delights

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Last week we had a lot of rain (this week’s a heat wave and a few thunderstorms), and since the roses are heavy with blooms we had a little mishap.

My Baron Prevost and Jack Cartier roses are standing tall near a wooden trellis that’s attached to the fence. I’ve also lightly attached some of the rose branches to the trellis (the trellis is mainly for the clematis that grows in front of it) and well, I guess the floppy rose branches got too heavy after the rain and they actually caused part of the trellis to break.

Upon discovering the broken trellis we fixed it with some 2×2’s – it’s very sturdy now and tied back some of the rose branches again.

Unfortunately one of the Baron Prevost rose branches snapped in half so rather than leaving the flowers out there to die I cut the branch off and then carefully cut some roses to bring indoors. Baron Prevost has a combination of large thorns and tiny thin prickly thorns covering it’s branches so it took some time to cut the roses off the branch and get them ready to go into a vase!

I almost never cut any of my flowers to bring inside. I prefer to enjoy them outside. Or I used to prefer them that way … after bringing in the very perfumey Baron Prevost flowers (and three peonies) I think I might change my mind.

I put the roses, two peony Peacher Peonies and one Karl Rosenfield peony in a vase in my kitchen and within minutes the whole main floor of our house was filled with a mix of rose perfume and delicate peony scent. In fact our house smelled of rose and peonies for two days before the roses started to wilt. Even then, the wilting roses still had some scent, although it was much milder than it had been when I first brought them indoors.

Do you ever bring some of your garden flowers indoors? Which ones are your favorites to bring inside?

Growing Hydrangeas

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Hydrangeas are a favorite shrub of many gardeners because of their eye catching blooms.

The majority of Hydrangeas originate from Asia and North America.

Hydrangea in October Hydrangea Macrophyllia (Mophead and Lacecap) are common in the Atlantic border states. They have big leaves, and their blooms come in colors of blue, lavender, pink and white. Other common hydrangeas are Paniculata or panicle hydrangea (PeeGee and family), Hydrangea arborescens (Annabelle) and Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf). There’s also Hydrangea anomola-petiolaris (climbing hydrangea). You can find this last hydrangea growing on the northern side of buildings. Depending upon which variety you purchase, you could have blooms from Summer to Autumn.

If you’d like to have a garden that almost always has something in bloom, plant hydrangea near rhododendrons, azaleas and or forsythia and you’ll have blooms and color from spring through to fall. I also have my hydrangea growing near a lovely clump of peonies.

Some species of Hydrangea, the Macrophylia in particular, will bloom either pink or blue depending upon the PH of your soil. Acidic soil will produce blue or violet flowers, while a slightly alkaline to neutral soil will give you pink or white blossoms. Hydrangea blooms can range from 5 to 10 inches in diameter depending upon the species.

How to grow Hydrangeas:

  • Hydrangeas prefer light to medium shade, although large leafed hydrangeas seem to be able to handle full sun if they are given enough water.
  • Hydrangea’s need moist well draining soil.
  • Hydrangeas don’t require a lot of fertilizer. A good feeding in the spring is often sufficient. Compost or manure mixed into the soil near the plant will often be sufficient. You might also want to try Liquid Seaweed extract. It’s an organic fertilizer.

Pruning:

Big leaved Hydrangeas flower on old wood (previous seasons growth) so if you must prune only prune about a third of the weakest growth in early spring. Otherwise, prune immediately after your hydrangea has flowered.

You can visit this site to learn more about the proper care of your species of hydrangea. You might also want to visit the Hydrangea Forum at GardenWeb and talk with other hydrangea owners and gardeners.

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