Megan Morton

Stylist, author and founder/teacher at Sydney design academy The School

Favourite bloom: peony ( Paeonia)

“Look, I’m not saying I timed the arrival of my youngest child to coincide with peony season, but I can say it was a glorious moment when Bea and I were surrounded by them in our hospital room. It’s my all-time favourite flower. In Greek mythology, the peony was a symbol of feminine power. The peony seed, which was believed to soothe the pain felt by women in childbirth, was at the centre of a quarrel between Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing, his student Paeon and Leto, goddess of fertility. There’s also evidence of medicinal uses of peonies elsewhere dating back to the first century. To me it looks like a proper old flower, just as intoxicating now as it has been for centuries.”