Procrastination and a Profusion of Peonies

Most of the planting and garden projects are finished so Burt and Kibitz have decided to take a little break and relax in the sunshine. Hope they get a good rest because weeding is next on the "to do" list. What am I saying? Pulling up weeds is ALWAYS on the list. 

  

So, now that summer is finally here, it's time to get ready for Halloween!

Just kidding! But I do hope I can keep these black petunias going until November.

This year I was expecting that a lot of the plants in my garden would have been killed off by the worse-than-usual, sub-zero temperatures of this past winter. 

Much to my surprise, not only did everything survive but the plants seemed to actually flourish in the cold and rainy spring that followed!  

Earlier, while the snow was still melting, it crossed my mind that it would be nice to have a few more peonies. So I got busy researching all the new colors and varieties that are available. 

Apart from being a current "it" fragrance on social media, they are pretty decent plants. I love them, they are totally foolproof and great at keeping the ants busy so they stay out of my house - for a little while anyway. As cut flowers they last awhile and it only takes a few to make a big statement. 

Their down side is that they attract little critters who like to hide between the petals. I always leave the cut blooms on the patio for a bit hoping the stowaways will take the opportunity to escape. We had a mass exodus once, an earwig, a spider and a couple of ants decided to vacate my centerpiece in the middle of a dinner party. I'll never forget watching the spider crawl out to the edge of a petal then gracefully dropped down to the tablecloth on it's thread. So cool and yet horrifying at the same time! Luckily, we were entertaining people who were so completely self-absorbed that they didn't even notice. Consequently, there was no screaming that night - apart from what was silently going on inside my head and that wasn't due to the bugs! Maybe it was a sign from Mother Nature that it's never a good idea to try to fit in with people you don't like.

As I mentioned before, following our crappy winter (thanks most likely to climate change - and I do mean "thanks" ironically) we were blessed with a cold and rainy spring that went on forever. All the peonies came up, made buds and then they just sat there, unopened for nearly a month.

Fortunately, once they finally got going, all at the same time, it was pretty spectacular! 

There were a few more plants than I remembered but they also produced way more flowers than usual. So many more that I didn't even get photos of them all! Was this another lesson from Mother Nature? Of course, now that all the sales are starting at the garden centers, I'm back to thinking it just might be possible to squeeze in one or two more.

It looks like Ivy's found the summer lights so it's back to work for Burt!

Meanwhile, Spenser is doing his best at his kitty job, snoozing in the sunshine.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful summer.