Long chilly day. My sister came over and we took Mom for a chest Xray (routine, prior to next week's visit to the pulmonologist). Sis has peonies in bloom, and she brought a couple to Mom. Since I haven't got a digital camera yet, I couldn't download a pic of the actual ones, but they look something like this:
According to Wikipedia, peonies are the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae and native to Asia, southern Europe and North America. They come in a wide variety of colors, from pure white to various shades of pink and purple to blood red, and have a beautiful soft scent that one friend calls "heavenly." She's right.
The old people in the knobs have always referred to them as "piney roses", probably because when they are fully opened they resemble a rose with pinked edges. The ones Sis brought are fully opened and HUGE.
Peonies tend to attract those tiny ants us hillbillies refer to as pissants; I was at a loss to explain this until Auntie came to my rescue. She says the buds are held closed by a sticky sweet substance, and the ants eat this and allow the buds to open.
The peony is a favorite in Asian art. In the same Wiki article, I found this delightful little tidbit, relating to Greek myth:
"Mischievous nymphs were said to hide in the petals of the Peony thus casing this magnificent flower to be given the meaning of Shame or Bashfulness in the Language of Flowers. It was named after Pæon, a physician to the gods, who obtained the plant on Mount Olympus from the mother of Apollo. Once planted the Peony likes to be left alone and punishes those who try to move it by not flowering again for several years. Once established, however, it produces splendid blooms each year for decades." (Taken from The Language of Flowers, edited by Sheila Pickles, 1990)
Peonies are the state flower of Indiana, by a legislative act of 1957.
Thanks to Mom, and my late grandmothers and other older beloved people gone on before, though, they'll always be piney roses to me.
And on that floral note, fair thee well.
You've convinced TallPockets to have his FIRST LADY wear said flowers and have PLENTY in the WHITE HOUSE! WINK.
Hopin' the BEST for your MOM and ya'll ....
Pissant-ly yours,
TallPockets.
Just don't try to replace the Rose Garden with peonies--the late great Dolley Madison would haunt you for sure!
And thanks so much for your kind words to Mom! We definitely appreciate them!
"Peonies tend to attract those tiny ants us hillbillies refer to as pissants; I was at a loss to explain this until Auntie came to my rescue. She says the buds are held closed by a sticky sweet substance, and the ants eat this and allow the buds to open."
Isn't there a name for that relationship that benefits both the ants and the peonies? I think it is called symbiosis. They have a symbiotic relationship.
My earliest memory of peonies is of my younger brother and I -- he may have been about two and I four -- out in the yard when we spotted a peony bulb atop its stem. I thought it was a thistle, so I plucked it off and took it in to show my grandmother (who lived with us) the "pricker" we found. She explained quite patiently that it was a flower, and pulled the head open to show the petals folded within.
I felt badly about it at the time, as I thought it was the only flower it would produce for the season and probably feared that I had killed the plant. But the plant (and I) survived, and I can't see a peony now without thinking of those aunts, and grandma, and the lesson of the flower.
Thanks!
Wonderful story, G! Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by!
It's a sweet peony, it's my dream .... ~ Bobbie Gentry
Thanks, Fairweather. You know I can never resist a flower. And peonies are among my very favorites. It's funny, though; I can't find that Shakespeare ever mentioned a peony. Too bad. But Bobbie Gentry will do, I hope.