Peony Buds

Peony03

The peony by the front door is loaded down with buds this year. For the first time since I moved here over 5 years ago, I put a top dressing of manure in my flower beds early this spring. Now all my plants are full and lush and loaded with buds held aloft on sturdy stems.

And I’m having a DUH moment. I mean, we’re surrounded with tons of manure, nature’s gift to plants, and I haven’t taken advantage of it. Sure, we dump a load of manure on the vegetable garden every fall, but it just didn’t occur to me to put any on the flower beds. I can be such a dunce sometimes.

But fortunately the flowers are forgiving,

‘GEEZ LADY, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG??”

albeit a little grumpy.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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14 Responses

  1. Alica says:

    I can almost smell them from here! The peonies, that is! 🙂 They are so fragrant!

  2. Kathy says:

    Beautiful! I love peonies (except for the ants that they draw).

  3. Carol says:

    My favorite flower, I love the fragrance too! Beautiful pictures Suzanne, Thanks for a lovely post .

  4. Glenda says:

    LOVE!

  5. Martha L says:

    It is nice to know that even farmers learn new things. There are those of us who have to make a visit to the store to BUY manure. Maybe you should start bagging and selling it!? 🙂

  6. Lorraine says:

    Now if you don’t have too many you can put a tomato cage over them and it holds their little heads up. Mine out grew the cage and in the wind blew over and bent. I was “forced” to cut them and bring them indoors. All over the house even the bathroom. The house smells just beautiful. My red/maroon ones are still in bud so they are ok. Frost warning for Lexington, KY. I have to cover my newly planted tomato tonight.

  7. Oh, I’m so jealous of your peonies!! They won’t grow at my house. Not enough cold. Can’t wait to see pictures of them once the blossoms open.

  8. Pat says:

    Beautiful…my peony bush has been in the ground for 10 years and this year is the first time it has bloomed. Perhaps I should invest in a bag of manure!

    Happy weekend.

    • Jeanne says:

      Your peony may have been planted too deeply. We did that with ours when we lived in Idaho. Didn’t know how deep to put it, didn’t know why it didn’t bloom. After a few years, it finally did, and it was lovely. Hm…maybe some of that good Kansas manure…..!!

  9. Doe in Mi says:

    Going to be so lovely. Already beautiful.

  10. Euni Moore says:

    Your peonies are beautiful. Alas, I won’t have any this year. Just at the time the buds would be forming we had a hard freeze. The plants are OK but the buds are tiny and deformed. Will have to really baby them this summer/fall. They are plants my grandmother started about 80 years ago.

  11. Melody says:

    I do the same thing. I just dumped well-rotted goat/horse manure on my tomato bed, but I have NEVER done so for my flowers. Gonna have to remedy that…

  12. Debbie says:

    Suzanne, please post pics of the peonies in bloom! I love them!

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