Spring is truly here. Being at 500 meters my garden is behind those at lower altitudes including my friend Roger who has just sent me pictures of his beautiful tree peonies. I love tree peonies and have several throughout the garden but it will be a couple of weeks before they flower. I first came across tree peonies in a book about an Italian garden. So I mistakenly thought they were not for me with the lows of winter going down to -22c in one memorable winter! How wrong could I be they are as tough as their namesakes, the peony and are one of the earliest perennials to flower.
Here are some pictures of what is flowering at the moment:
Plus an early rhododendron and a very busy bee on the apple blossom!
and, of course, Roger’s tree peonies
A Garden in the Morvan 
All so lovely, Spring is so welcoming
LikeLike
I can not figure peonies out! They did not get enough chill in my former neighborhood, but neighbors about half a mile away grew them rather well! I could not figure it out. I gave mine to someone with more of a chill. ‘Supposedly’ neighbors in the higher elevations of the Santa Monica Mountains above Beverly Hills (in the Los Angeles region) grew them too! (Although, somehow, I never saw them . . . or even pictures of them.) I was told that they put ice on them in winter. I seriously doubt that would give them enough chill. Besides, I would find something easier to grow before I put that much effort into growing something that really doesn’t want to be in my garden. They can grow here, but I will not add any until the garden stabilizes. Because they are marginal here anyway, I do not want to move them about once they are planted. For propagation, I might break pieces off if they get big later, but will not dig and divide them. I know that sounds bad, but it is how they seem to do best here.
LikeLike