The peonies are here. Have you noticed?
Alice Walker’s inspired line from The Color Purple has always resonated with me. “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”
A few years ago, I gathered an armful of peonies from the garden and arranged them in an antique creamware pitcher that Bronson had given me, then decided to grab a couple of photos.
Those photos still sometimes pull me through winter. And now they are here. I do love peonies, and God. And they both love me back.
Photo by Beth Yarbrough.
I too adore Peonies, and grew up assuming the huge bushes full of pink,or white or purple were common everywhere. But Roswell, GA must be an exception. I have 2 bushes (probably should be called small plants) that each put out only 2 or 3 blooms each year. I fertilize, I talk kindly to them, and after more than 25 years I've come to accept. Until my Indiana friends and family make certain they have texted me photos of their current plants. Jealousy is not a good trair, I remind myself.
I love peonies also. We had a large bush when i was growing up. I still remember that aroma and the beautiful pale pink and pure white. They don't seem to do well here