First of all, I just want to say for the record that the color in these photos was not altered in the slightest bit, and yet these shots, though they show a vivid pink flower, certainly do not capture the vibrancy of my peonies this year. They’re glowing at the end of my driveway, a wonderful shade of neon.
No lie, I’ve had people actually stop their cars to gawk at these babies, and I’ve gotten so many compliments on them, as if I had anything to do with how gorgeous they are, that I’m starting to hope that this weird weather becomes commonplace so they’ll return year after year.
So, I bought these plants at the end of the season two or three years ago. I bought one red peony, one white peony and one pale pink peony. Or so I thought. When I bought them, they all had flowers on them, so I know this wasn’t a matter of a tag mixup or something silly like that.
The following year, they came back healthy as I’d hoped, but they were all this strange hot pink color. I assumed it had something to do with a pollination thing (we have loads of bees buzzing through the gardens) and put it out of my head. The following year, same deal, all hot pink.
Obviously the same thing happened this year, though this year I’m not complaining because they’re gorgeous, but I’m really puzzled as to why this happened.
I’ve done a bit of research and the only thing I came across that could possibly explain it is a virus. The particular virus that would cause a change in bloom color, though, would kill the leaves, and that hasn’t happened ever…knock on wood.
I’m chalking this one up to a happy accident or a freak of nature. Figures that freaks of nature happen in my yard. Typical.
Can we talk about peonies for a second?
First of all, I just want to say for the record that the color in these photos was not altered in the slightest bit, and yet these shots, though they show a vivid pink flower, certainly do not capture the vibrancy of my peonies this year. They’re glowing at the end of my driveway, a wonderful shade of neon.
No lie, I’ve had people actually stop their cars to gawk at these babies, and I’ve gotten so many compliments on them, as if I had anything to do with how gorgeous they are, that I’m starting to hope that this weird weather becomes commonplace so they’ll return year after year.
So, I bought these plants at the end of the season two or three years ago. I bought one red peony, one white peony and one pale pink peony. Or so I thought. When I bought them, they all had flowers on them, so I know this wasn’t a matter of a tag mixup or something silly like that.
The following year, they came back healthy as I’d hoped, but they were all this strange hot pink color. I assumed it had something to do with a pollination thing (we have loads of bees buzzing through the gardens) and put it out of my head. The following year, same deal, all hot pink.
Obviously the same thing happened this year, though this year I’m not complaining because they’re gorgeous, but I’m really puzzled as to why this happened.
I’ve done a bit of research and the only thing I came across that could possibly explain it is a virus. The particular virus that would cause a change in bloom color, though, would kill the leaves, and that hasn’t happened ever…knock on wood.
I’m chalking this one up to a happy accident or a freak of nature. Figures that freaks of nature happen in my yard. Typical.