Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Peonies

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Pardon me while I hit pause in order to soak up the beauty of these peonies.

My favorite flower.

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For so many years, I was away coaching during the first week of June, which happens to be the week the peonies bloom. I would beg Don for pictures, which he would obligingly take. I lived vicariously through those pictures.

But being here at this time of year is so much better. So much better. I can lean down and inhale that glorious scent. I can take close-ups of the velvety petals and the ubiquitous ants.

Who better than Mary Oliver to extol the beauty of peonies?

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open –
pools of lace,
white and pink –
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities –
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again –
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling, 
their eagerness, 
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

Peonies by Mary Oliver
from New and Selected Poems

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Comments

  3. I had never read that poem before. I will be searching for that book. I hope you, Don and Dame Scout have a Sunday filled with beauty.
    Hugs,
    Deb

    • They are definitely my favorite – such a short bloom time. Maybe that makes them even more special.

  5. Gorgeous blooms! Peonies always look to me like extravagant yummy pink cabbages – no wonder the ants like them.

    Thank you for the poem. I read somewhere that Mary Oliver used to hide pencils in trees in case she wanted to jot down ideas while walking in the woods. Don’t know if it’s true, but I quite like the idea.

    Have a blissful Sunday!

    • Mine will probably be here for about a week…then that’s all until next year.

  7. I’m not familiar with peonies. So, I enjoyed looking at your photos this morning. I forget about Mary Oliver sometimes and then am reminded of her brilliance; thanks for the poem. Have a great Sunday.

    • Peonies need a hard freeze, like lilacs. You can buy lots of them at Trader Joe’s by the way. I used to buy them all the time when I lived in California.

      • Oh, that’s a great tip. I haven’t missed out too much because it’s been ‘forever’ in SoCal since we had a hard freeze.

        Claudia, I have to take my exit from the computer for awhile; nothing earthshaking but just (although I know I’m just one of so many readers you have) wanted to let you know since I’ve gotten to where I post comments daily…often ones which are too long(!). I will catch up and say ‘hi’ a bit down the road. Thanks for everything. I learn a lot from you!

  8. They are gorgeous…love that color too. So glad you get to see them first hand this year. Enjoy your Sunday! ;)

  9. Among the much missed flowers that don’t grow here, lilacs, lily of the valley, so many more. Glad you’re there to see them. Thanks for the pictures — I can almost smell the peonies.

    • It’s very beautiful today, Pat. Sunny, not too hot, peonies blooming, catalpa tree blooming…glorious.

  15. So glad you are home to enjoy them this year. The poem is perfect.
    Such a strange thing on one of our peony bushes. All of my peonies are a pale pink. However, last year and again this year, we have 2 white flowers. And the white ones are off the same bush as are the pink. It has me baffled. Not 1, or 4, but just 2 white blooms for 2 years in a row!!

    • A mystery! Who knows why that kind of thing happens. I’ve had it happen with roses, but I think that’s due to grafting. I wonder if the same kind of thing happens with peonies?

  16. The house where my grandparents (and later my parents) lived had peonies in the backyard. My sister and I started cleaning the house before my parents moved. One day, we decided we had to have some peony blooms to take home. Well, we forgot about the ants on the peonies–had ants all over the car during the hour long trip home. The ants were tiny and didn’t bite. We were very thankful about that :)

    • That’s a good thing! I don’t think these little ants bite, either, Terri.

  17. Hi Claudia!

    Your photos are beautiful of your peonies. They’re one of my favorite flowers too :)

    I’m glad to see you’re still blogging.

    xo,
    rue

  18. We have peonies by our trailer at the lake. They usually bloom the last week of May. Such a short blooming time. I wish they lasted longer, but as you said, maybe that’s what makes them so special.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

    • I just went out to see what the peonies were up to today – more have opened. I think about cutting them and putting them in a vase, but it seems to me they last longer outside. So, unless it really rains, which it might do on Tuesday, I’ll leave them there.

  19. What a beautiful poem! Just as beautiful as your gorgeous peonies are!!! I am so glad for you that you are there to enjoy them this year. Mine have just opened today, but I didn’t take any pictures, must do it tomorrow! I love the pink colour of yours!! xx

    • Yes, you must take some pictures, Amy! These peonies were planted long before we moved here and I say a thank you every year to the previous owner who planted them!

    • I am, too. And the catalpa tree just bloomed, which I missed out on last year! I don’t leave for Chautauqua until next Sunday, so I have time to enjoy it.

  21. I love peonies too. Probably because pink is my favorite color and peonies come in virtually every shade of pink known to the heavens. Thanks for sharing the ones in your garden – and have a great week! :>)

  23. I will NEVER take them for granted again. I grew up in Indiana (state flower) and they were abundant and glorious. When I lived in upstate NY several yards had them (not mine) but I had generous neighbors. Now, living in Florida, I can’t grow them. Working in floral wholesale I can only SELL them, and admire them briefly before they go to their ultimate owners.

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