My Mom's Peonies

My mom's peonies are the most beautiful flowers I'd ever seen.

I remember her telling me that when she was a little girl, she would sneak out of bed at night and pick peonies from my Grandma's garden. She said they were so beautiful, it seemed like magic to her.

Now, every year when the peonies bloom in June, she brings them for me.

I went to visit my mom yesterday. It was still early morning and the air was cool but not cold. The sun had just started to rise over the trees and the birds were chirping happily as they flitted about the yard.

The peonies were in full bloom, and I could smell their sweet scent even before I got close enough to see them. They were stunning! Every color imaginable: white, pink, yellow, orange, red, purple, even blue! There must have been hundreds of blooms on each bush.

When I saw my mom standing by one of the bushes, picking off the dead blooms, I almost gasped aloud with joy. My mother looked up and smiled at me, then motioned for me to come closer.

"Mom," I asked. "Why do you love these flowers so much? Why do you always bring them for me?" She shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe because they remind me of your grandma. Or maybe it's just because they're pretty. Whatever the reason, I love them."

She turned back to her task, and I took another look around the garden. I noticed something else that made me smile. On the ground near the base of the bush where my mom was working, there were several dozen small black ants crawling all over the dirt. I watched them for a minute, fascinated.

They were moving slowly, carefully, making their way across the dirt toward the blossoms. One ant crawled onto the flower itself, and began eating the pollen from the petals. Another came over and ate some of the nectar inside the center of the blossom. Then another joined him. Soon, the entire bush was covered with ants. They didn't seem to be doing any harm, and I couldn't help wondering what they were doing.

After watching them for a while, I decided to ask my mom about the ants. She said that if you want to keep the ants away from your peony plants, you can sprinkle salt water around the base of the plant. The ants won't cross the line of the salt water. That's why she was sprinkling salt on the ground right now. I told her how amazing it was to watch the ants work together.

This is Buckeye Belle. It has deep red petals, and a big yellow center. I like this flower very much. My mom used to grow it in our yard when we lived in the village. But we moved from there, and I haven't seen any of these flowers since. Buckeye Belle is one of my favorite flowers.

As I walked around the yard, I found more and more flowers. Some of them were familiar, like the roses, which grew in huge clusters along the fence. Others were new to me, like the foxglove and the bleeding heart. This flower smells wonderful, and the bees love it.

I thought about how much fun it would be to grow flowers like these in my own yard someday. I knew that my mom wouldn't mind, because she always loved having flowers growing in the yard.

Coral peony is one of my favorites. It's a bright orange flower with a deep red center. Coral peonies are very hardy, and they grow well in shade. My mom likes to put them along the side of the house. When they bloom, the whole yard looks really nice.

This is one of the peonies I planted when I was little. Callie's Memory. It's a pale pink with a deep rose center. It reminds me of the flowers in my grandma's garden.

Morning Lilac looks like it will bloom at any time.

Cora Louise always remins me off my friend Louise. These flowers smell so good!

There were other flowers, too. The ones that I couldn't identify, the ones that weren't blooming yet. I wanted to know what they were, but I didn't want to bother my mom with questions.

Bartzella, I think. They smell wonderful.

When I finished walking around the yard, I went back into the house and told my mom all about the flowers. I showed her pictures of the ones I couldn't name. We spent a long time looking through the websites, and finally figured out the names of most of the flowers.

We also learned that there were some new ones, ones that we hadn't seen before. I was excited to learn that my mom had planted them herself, and I wanted to see them.

My mom said that it takes about three years for a peony to bloom, so don't get discouraged if yours doesn't bloom right away. If you live in an area where the winters are harsh, you should plant your peony in a pot, and bring it indoors during the winter. You'll need to fertilize your peony once or twice a year, depending on how often you water it. A peony needs lots of water and sunlight to thrive. Don't plant it in a shady spot.

And if you have a large garden, you can plant several peonies, and they'll bloom at different times. That way, you'll have flowers throughout the season.

It was a nice day, and we both felt better after spending some time outside. I helped my mom finish up her chores, and then we headed back home.