a secret about peonies

"It was this big!"

the girl's fish story

is a peony.

- Issa (paraverse by Robin D. Gill)

I know a gardener who is pushing 100 years old. He has been gardening since he was eight, and still owns his own nursery. One day while I was working for him, he told me he was ashamed of how little he knew about plants. Well, if he has more to learn, the rest of us (who won't have nearly the number of hours logged on the subject in our lifetimes) need to be generous gardeners and share with each other the secrets that each plant seems to have.

For example, I had read and been told that peonies don't like being planted too deeply, but I didn't really understand what that meant until another kind gardener taught me.

The secret: Peonies like to be planted very shallowly. Shallowly enough that the tops of two or three of their tubers are exposed above the soil line.

Felix Crausse Peony (in various stages of bloom)

This year's peonies have just finished blooming in most places. But don't fret if you missed them! Peonies are perennials, so if you plant some tubers this fall, long before the first frost, in full sun, leaving them room to breathe and grow, soon you will have your own fish...er...peony story to tell.

Shirley Temple Peony

If you'd like to learn more about peonies, this is a great resource: http://www.almanac.com/plant/peonies

(quote source: simplyhaiku.com)