Paeonia and bud
After years and years of care, success at last God
willing. One precious bud to look forward to. In four
years in a garden bed where it's four brethren
succumbed to heat stroke, this little darling gladdened my
heart with one solitary flower. Three more years it struggled
there before I fully awoke to it's plight and had enough
courage to transplant it. It's new home was a largish plastic
pot which could easily be housed in my new shadehoouse
during our dessicating summer. Three more years and
gleanings of wisdom from Dennis Norgate, an octenagerian
wholesale nurseryman with acres of superb perennials,
and I was home and hosed. Lashings of dolomite, potash and
blood and bone and after a few short months the results are
self evident. Our climate is singularly unsuitable for paeonie
and bulb cultivation. Summers too dry and hot, winters not
nearly cold enough.
An optimist never gives up and this time I've hit pay dirt!
