Two Blooms

About six years ago, when we rented a tiny trailer on an old farm, our next to the next door neighbor, Brenda, gave me a peony to plant. It came up quickly, but did not flower that year, and when we moved that winter, I decided to leave all the perennials we had planted there for the next tenants to enjoy. But the next spring, when we were visiting Brenda, she told us that the whole property had been sold to a developer. Since no one was renting the old trailer, and since everything would be destroyed to put up a subdivision, I dug up and took all of the plants to our new home.

Year after year, the peony came up. It survived being scratched up by chickens and tugged on by toddlers. It even started putting out flower buds, but every spring they would get pulled off before they had a chance to open. Finally, for the first time, one has survived to open fully. Here is my peony, held up for the camera by my sweet pea, Miriam: two lovely blooms for May. Photo courtesy of Virginia, my lovely, budding photographer.