Wednesday, February 8, 2017

2017 Rough Winter on Early Peonies

I'm hoping for a bit steadier weather this late winter / early spring than we had last year. Usually everyone shares the pretty peony photos. Here I wanted to share the ugly ones. What happens when an early spring warm up meets late winter temperatures? Well, take a look... ugly peonies. Is it still worth it to grow these early peonies? I think so. I really enjoying seeing their neat looking foliage pop up from the ground and their palette of colors brighten up my very early spring garden. Yes, it is sometimes disappointing to feel like you've missed seeing some blooms when they get busted by a cold snap, or wish that the bright yellow stamens weren't mixed with gray or brown. However not all years experience such weather, and sometimes the peonies' blooms are just dandy. And sometimes the bad is not all that bad... :-)