Thursday, June 17, 2010

Peonies

Vote on my poll over there -----------------------------> (actually, it's over now. But pee-OH-nees got 14 votes, and PEE-uhnees got 9. I sort of use both but mostly pee-OH-nees.)







Is there any flower more magical than a peony? I submit that there is not. I have been completely overcome with the thrill of peonies lately.

On Sunday we were walking home from church when I spotted a long row of peonies down a driveway. I abandoned Chris and ran across the 4 lane street to admire them. (That makes it sound dangerous. It was Sunday in Provo, so duh, no cars. I included the length of the street to give you an accurate picture of the distance traveled, that is all.)

Then at my parents' house the other day, the pink ones next to the driveway and the white ones by the porch had me skipping with excitement. They were all weighed down from the rain, drooping over in all their fluffiness, and I just loved them. I sang songs about how much I loved them so they would know we were peeps.

Then my mom and I walked around the yard and visited all the peony bushes to see how they were doing. (All good. One is being jostled by some pink roses, though, and I do NOT think it appreciates it. Roses are definitely the inferior flower, and I think the peonies know that.)

My mother dear told me to cut some and take them home, which I needed no encouragement in doing. I cut some white, some pink, mostly still buds (which are so pretty) but some that had already exploded (which make me explode).

I brought them home and lovingly put them in my beautiful green vase, and said goodnight to them. In the morning they looked much the same, but when I got home from work in the afternoon they were HUGE!

Today I decided I couldn't keep them to myself. So I took some pictures for you all. (Because I blog with pictures now, apparently.)

Enjoy.






And then, to give some perspective, I took the peony to my face to show you all how big they really are.

Also, I had just gone running when I was swept away by the desire to photograph my flowers. Hence the sleevelessness and the sweatiness.
















Can you believe those things? They look like crepe paper, am I right? Man. I love those flowers.

12 comments:

Andrea said...

I LOVE them. Are they hard to grow? I would love to have some in my yard one day, but if they are like hydrangeas then they don't do well in Utah soil unless you are very devoted to them. But they are so beautiful!

Tay said...

They look like how happiness feels.

Shelly said...

Besides making you explode with excitement, do Peonies also make you revert back to freshman year of college picture taking styles?

Sara said...

Gorgeous. (you not the flowers) ok fine the flowers too. They are SO big and beautiful I just got really happy reading this. Thanks. I love you.

Erin said...

Ann, I don't think they are, because I have been seeing them all over the place. My mom has like 5 bushes in her yard. And my mom isn't a SUPER diligent gardener. She's good, and her yard is really pretty, but she's not out like talking to her columbines in the middle of the night or anything like that.

Shelly, how did you know? After this I put the camera on self timer and tried to flip my hair up so I looked like a troll. Also I would shake my face around and take a picture of the ugliness that ensued. Spot on, my friend.

Kiley said...

Those are SOOOO beautiful! My favorite right now are poppies. They are just right for me.

Amanda said...

Shelly's comment made me laugh, because I thought the same thing! Plaster one of our pretty faces on those peonies and you'd have about 1000 pictures from freshman year. Love it.

Also, I haven't voted yet on the pronunciation yet because I read that whole post saying it both ways, and I'm honestly not sure which way I say it. But I think I've made a decision, and I'm about to cast my vote.

Katie said...

gorgeous, i love peonies too! Those are HUGE.

Lindsey Leon said...

Peonies are my favorite flower HANDS DOWN! I love love love them!

kate said...

i agree. roses are a much more inferior flower.

Becca said...

I have never really even seen these flowers before. does that boggle your mind? I'm sure it does.

they are fantastic! and huge!

and i love your vase. and your face.

deb-bot said...

Oh man, you just blogged MY favorite flower. Copy cat.

But on a more serious note, you also made me think. When you wrote 'vase' did you say it in your head like: v-AH-ze, or v-ae-ce.

Erm, phonetics are not my forte.