Gardening Fresh flowers for mom
No matter the variety, peonies make a colorful and long-lasting gift
Peony flowers are the divas of the flower kingdom — without being high-maintenance. In fact, the entire plant is a reliable perennial and can flourish in your garden for decades. The leaves have a neat, mounded appearance that emerge in early spring and drop in autumn. But as we all know, the sumptuous flowers are the main attraction, blooming in almost every color — from frilly and flouncy to an elegant, simple cup of satin petals that envelop a golden center.
Peonies break down into three basic groups: Herbaceous, Tree and Intersectional hybrid or Itoh. Simply, herbaceous peonies die back to the ground every fall. Tree peonies have woody, aboveground stems that remain all year. (Leaves drop every autumn like a deciduous shrub.) The flowers usually are larger and quite spectacular. The intersectional peony is the result of breeding the herbaceous with the tree peony. Like the herbaceous peony, the intersectional peony dies back to the ground after frost, every fall. However, their flowers more closely resemble those of the showier tree peony. The herbaceous and the interesectional peonies form their buds underground on the crown of the plant. The tree peony forms it buds above ground on its woody stems. All three of these types form their buds for next year in the autumn. The herbaceous and intersectional peonies are generally hardier than the tree peonies in our northern, Midwest climate because of this bud placement.
All types of peonies would make a thoughtful and long-lasting gift for mom on Mother’s Day. So, don’t procrastinate. You still have time to choose her favorite before May 13th!
White sunflowers, yellow geraniums and black petunias? It sounds like something in Alice in Wonderland’s garden. There always is something new brewing at Burpee. There’s nothing wrong with golden-yellow sunflowers and traditional red geraniums but maybe this is the year to shake it up. Both annuals like it hot and sunny. Plant the seeds of Sunflower ‘Coconut Ice’ directly into soil in mid- to late May. Plants mature to 5 feet tall with 4- to 8-inch vanilla-white flowers. Or, plant the First Yellow Geranium in containers or into garden beds after the last frost date (middle to end of May). Each plant matures from 12 to 15 inches tall and spreads from 10 to 18 inches wide.
For Mother’s Day this year, plant a flowering tree or shrub for the mom in your life. Narrow down the possibilities by starting with her favorite color or fragrance. Choose from red-pink flowering “Prairiefire” Crabapple, a violet-red, blooming Eastern Redbud, or choose from the many fragrant cultivars of lilacs that usually bloom close to Mother’s Day.