Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Indecision

At Canada Blooms, I found myself standing in front of the large table of peonies, overwhelmed with the possibilities. Inside each of the clear plastic bags, a few leaf buds could be seen peaking up from under a covering of peat moss. A tempting picture was fastened to each bag. Hmm...what to choose? One of everything was not in the budget.



Pink? No, I had fluffy pink peonies already.




Maybe white? After all, I have been wanting a single petaled white one for a while. 



On the other hand, this one is not only pretty, it has an interesting name. 


But then the dark pink peonies caught my eye. I turned to my husband. "I can't decide!" Of course he was no help. By this point, he just wanted me to pick one and be done with it. 

I looked to the young woman behind the table for sympathy. We struck up a conversation as I tried to reason my way to a decision. Turns out, that she had taken most of the lovely photographs displayed in the booth and on the peony bags. 

A few minutes later, I had my choice narrowed down to a light pink one and a deep pink one. Which one of the two? I looked at my husband, who just shrugged and said, "I'm staying out of this".

There was nothing to do, but listen to my own inner voice. It said "pink". 

I handed the young woman my selection,"I'm going to go with the pink." There was a silent sigh of relief all round. 



























This is the peony I choose in the end. We paid her and then strode off down the isle of the show. 

When I paused a few minutes later to adjust my bags of purchases,  I noticed that there was not one but two peonies in my bag. The young woman had put not only the light pink one, but the deep pink peony into my bag as well. 

Now wasn't that just the nicest thing to do!

Peony Envy recommends that you plant peonies in a hole 1' in diameter by 1' in depth. Plant the eyes 1/2" to 2" below the surface of the soil, depending on your plant zone. The colder the zone, the closer you should come to the full 2". Beware, if you plant the eyes too deep, they won't flower. Water after planting. Peony Envy also suggest that you add bone meal and decomposed compost to the soil, when planting each peony.

If you are looking for peonies, here is a link to the Peony Envy website. They ship orders in the fall, once the plants have become dormant. Sadly, they do not ship to Canada. Does anyone knows a Canadian grower/supplier? 

21 comments:

  1. How Nice! You obviously appealed to her and she took pity on your indecision! I love hearing about random acts of kindness.

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  2. Takie wybory są zawsze trudne :)
    Pozdrawiam.

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  3. Awwww, I loved the end of the story, with two peonies in the bag. How sweet. In years to come, when they are both blooming, you will remember the day you bought them.

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  4. Great story. They go very well together.

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  5. Oh boy that is very hard decisions. I always do the same thing. Sounds just like a man though. LOL! I had heard those same words so many times. They are all beautiful and I really like the one you brought home with you.

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  6. I absolutely enjoyed reading this post and I felt as I was trying to make a choice too! Congratulations! You should have great plants! I also loved the pictures from the previous post. Wonderful images!

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  7. I have only two Peonies now and both are Krinkled White a single peony. I had a yard full of peonies when I was a child and they were my favorite flower. I had pink at my last home. Oh, to find room for some more!

    Eileen

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  8. These peonies are all so sweet. I would have chosen the light pink one too.

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  9. That is a nice story with a very happy ending. Rouge Speckled Jade looks absolutely stunning. I can't help but wonder about the dark one. Is it the Great Prosperity? I can't wait to see them in bloom in your garden.

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  10. The one(s) you got are gorgeous! Of course, they all are - that's why the decision was so hard. Fat Concubine!!! haha - I bet a lot of people get that one for the name!

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  11. You made a good choice, it is very lovely. Very sweet of the lady to give you another one.

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  12. You made a beautiful choice; the shading combines the best of all the colors. But how nice that the salesperson gave you two, especially adding the dark pink one. I think we could all use a "Great Prosperity" right now:)

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  13. Same here, I cant decide which I like most, they are all so gorgeous! But that last one is really sweet as it has many shades of pink...and you are very lucky to get another one for free! Very nice of that girl...

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  14. What a wonderful story! A gesture like that just makes my day. I have a similar dark pink peony in my yard that I hope to move this year so it gets more light. The light pink are beautiful but that dark one steals my heart.

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  15. Lucky you to get two beauties for the price of one! It would of been a hard choice for me to make too, lol. Thanks for stopping by my blog today. :)

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  16. I have a lovely deep pink Tree Peony that is still about 2 ft tall and it is lovely...how wonderful to find that as a surprise in your bag!!

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  17. It is such a difficult decision!! You made a wonderful one, I love when peonies have lighter centres.

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  18. The peonies are all beautiful but I think I would have picked the last one, too. I like the mix of colors. How incredibly kind of the sales girl to give you two peonies. Her kindness created joy for you, which you pass on through your blog and garden. It's a wonderfully happy karmic cycle! :o)

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  19. Very nice choice! I love the two (or more) tones in the one you chose. Very delicate! Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Nothing much happening today, but I think I might have a crocus bloom by the weekend.

    Cheers!

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  20. Ahhh... PEONIES, you can't make a bad choice, they are all so lovely. What a wonderful gift, there are good people out there and most of them are gardeners.

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  21. I will check this Peony Envy place out. Love the photos of the ones you were looking at. Have been looking for Charlie's White for our family garden. Hope they have it.

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