My Peony Year — The Ottawa Garden Club

My favourite time of year! Peonies in flower...ahhhh....

My best peony year ever was 2004, when I followed the opening of these glorious blooms half way around the world...

My peony year started in April, 2004 when I headed off for China with a group of crazy peony lovers from many different countries....Canada, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia ....on a peony study tour. We were to visit spectacular collections and festivals across the country, culminating in a visit to wild peonies high in the mountains. We met the head of the Chinese Peony Society, we visited botanical gardens (there were 200, 000 people visiting the Botanical Garden of Beijing the day we were there! Unreal!), we shared stories...it was a mind-boggling experience...

Botanical Garden, Beijing

When it ended, i headed east to follow peony bloom time.

First, Vancouver near the beginning of May; Ottawa from mid May to Mid-June; les Jardins de Métis at the beginning of July; and, finally, Matane, mid-July, about half and hour east on the south shore of the St Laurent River, where it is regularly 10-15 degrees colder than in Métis.

Garden in Matane, Quebec

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How I wish I could do that agin, although without all of the travel! I guess I can, anyone can, with the miracle of technology. But it isn’t the same…just not at all the same…

Peonies now in bloom

A few of the peonies finished or currently in bloom in our garden. We will be following them this summer to see how many weeks of bloom we can squeeze out this year!

P. Lagodeschiana (left) and two Mloko hybrids (right)