Perennial magic brought to us by warm weather and plentiful rain – May 2-12, 2018
FRESH ENOUGH TO SLAP
Our first Fragrant Cloud of the season, captured in pixels by Tami. And Festiva Maxima, a peony showing gratitude for its new home beside its brothers and sisters. In 2010 we bought five peony plants from Silk Hope Nursery and planted three in front of the house where we could set them up with an automatic watering system. At the time we had a giant cypress in that garden, so three was all we had room for, and we put Festiva and Shirley Temple fifty feet away in a dry garden. Eventually, we got rid of the cypress because it was taking over the porch and last year we moved the exiled peonies next to the other three. It is wonderful to see them coming back to life, albeit a few years behind the others.
SHOWY FRONT YARD
Felix Crousse, Karl Rosenfield, Mrs. FDR, and our lovely water iris all live on the front side of the house.
BEAUCOUP BOUQUETS
The first Fragrant Cloud was followed by beaucoup blooms: bi-color Double Delight, Pink Peace, white Stainless Steel, and deep red Oklahoma. Buying hybrid tea roses and peonies is akin to adopting an animal. They come with pedigrees, names, and personality traits. We combed the catalogs and made our selections based on fragrance and disease resistance.
EYE-BLINKING PINK
Coral pink Fragrant Cloud lives up to its name with a knock-your-socks-off scent. Pink Peace is no slouch in the perfume department, and Karl Rosenfield wins the prize for the pinkest peony.
KARL
Karl Rosenfield obviously enjoys his home against Trouts Farm’s south-facing brick foundation.