Today’s photos come from Connie Prendergast from Sedgewick, Alberta (Zone 3).

Peonies are my favorite flower.  I didn’t know that until I was about 45.  At that point in my life, I had never had a garden. I thought I hated gardening. Then we moved to Alberta and bought a house. There was one red peony plant at the side of the house, and it was absolutely beautiful. A year later we moved again, and that property and the memory of the peony inspired me. That started my adventure of learning to garden. Now I have flowerbeds where I know the name of every plant, and I love every one. I walk around to each flowerbed every day during the growing season, looking for the progress from spring sprouts to blooming buds to full flowering beauties!

The peonies remain my favorites. And my favorite of favorites is the variety ‘Raspberry Sundae’.  I just can’t get enough of those beautiful, subtle, pink and cream ruffles.

During this journey, I not only discovered that I enjoyed gardening but that I also enjoyed journaling about and photographing flowers, hostas, and ferns, none of which I knew anything about until after I was 50 years old.

‘Raspberry Sundae’. It is easy to see why this is Connie’s “favorite of favorites.”

‘Coral Charm’ is a beautiful intersectional or Itoh hybrid peony. These types of peonies are hybrids between herbaceous and tree peonies, and they combine the best of both types. View our plant guide to peonies here.

This peony bloom is packed to the brim with petals, making for an incredibly beautiful, full flower. It is an unknown variety that came from Connie’s mother’s garden. Fully double peony flowers are very heavy, so make sure you stake them to avoid having those beautiful blooms winding up face down in the mud.

A closer look.

Peony flowers come in a wide range of colors. This one is a particularly beautiful dark magenta.

Peonies also can be an icy cool pure white.

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