Joe Koller sent in today’s photos of peonies.
These photos were taken on May 27 at Alan Summers’ gardens in Zone 7 in northern Maryland. He opened his gardens to the public for the first time that week. Alan formerly owned Carroll Gardens and was frequently mentioned in early issues of Fine Gardening as a source for unusual plants. Alan has given me permission to submit these photos and to name him as the source. He currently has a Saturday morning radio show where he handles gardening questions from all over the country for one hour. I hope you enjoy these photos, and good luck to all!
A lovely bearded iris (Iris germanica, Zones 4–9) glows against a backdrop of rich greens. Read more about irises here.
What is better than a peony (Paeonia lactiflora, Zones 3–8)? Why, a giant row of hundreds of them! Peonies are a good choice for massing like this because they give such an over-the-top show when they flower, and they are notably long-lived, easy-to-care-for plants. All they really ask is sun and some sort of support to keep their heavy flowers from drooping.
Another view of the massive planting of peonies. Though peonies are only in bloom for a short while, rows of daylilies in front of them stand ready to carry on the show.
Closeup of a lovely white peony, just flushed with a bit of pink at its heart. Watch this video on how to protect peonies.
More peonies. It is no wonder Alan opened his garden the week that he did; with all the peonies in bloom, it could hardly be more beautiful.
Wide grassy paths and specimen trees make a beautiful structure for the flowers to strut their stuff.
Rows of carefully labeled trial beds of irises. The American Iris Society visited this trial garden with 2,000 iris plants, many of them rare varieties that are no longer commercially available.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.
Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!
You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!
Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.
Fine Gardening Recommended Products
Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Ho-Mi Digger - Korean Triangle Blade
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Comments
Oh I can smell the peonies! We cannot grow them in the south. I miss them. Sigh......
Had to be such a treat, Joe, for you to get to tour Alan Summers' garden. I believe I remember you sharing that he was the designer of your own personal garden and has continued to advise you on plant selections. It's pretty impressive to see a mature, long established curving row of peonies and, as pattyeckels observed, the fragrance must have been heavenly.
Good morning Michaele, You are right, Alan designed the front yard gardens & helped with my wife's memorial garden both of which were featured on GPOD 3 yrs. ago. His gardens are 5 acres of the most amazing collections of peony, day lilies, 10,000 plus dafs etc. He hopes to open his gardens next spring & if he does I will send photos to GPOD. Good luck, Joe
Wow, Joe, what a treat. A total eye candy feast and the fragrance must have been amazing! Thanks so much for sharing.
Beautiful! I didn't care much for peonies in the past- thought they sounded too touchy, but we inherited one on our new property. It had been hidden by some overgrown nuisance plants, and now we are anxious to see what we have! I'm a little fearful of another addictive family of plants...Thanks!
People have a great interest in gardening or to grow different types of flowers in their gardens. People grow different types of flowers in different seasons to enjoy and I found https://getpocket.com/@180g7dl9pX29aA668fTTtz0T31A0p44d28fj13zbsHmb7fq4ejr03x7cI71Xx246 to complete my phd papers. Here proper information about flowers and garden are given. Thank you for sharing such an informative article.
Beautifully elaborated! I think distance education has many benefits not only for disabled people but also for other students in the time of pandemic that has stricken the globe severely. So, I found this https://uk.bestessays.com/nursing-essay.html article for my online exam preparation as well.
Thanks for share me crdownload it great article it is very nice.
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in