If you are one of those blessed enough to have excess peonies blooming in your back yard right now, be thankful. 🙂 Let me share this little tip with you for when you have a chance to bless others with them.

I have a peony plant, well actually 2 of them now. The success of the first one to bloom has been nearly zero. I did get this beautiful solitary bloom last spring about half way through my chemo treatments. I counted it a gift!

This year the plant, once more, produced buds but they didn’t bloom. I had even transplanted it to different spot. I had treated it with a fungicide that was supposed to help the problem. Still no blooms. Even the 2nd plant purchased that was supposed to be specifically for zone 9 didn’t do anything. I’ll give that one a few years to get established before I give up on that one.

I was in Utah recently visiting family. At my uncle and aunt’s house, a beautiful bouquet of pale pink peonies greeted us from their spot on the dining room table when we first arrived.

She made the “mistake” of saying they had so many they didn’t hardly no what to do with them, or something similar and I offered to take a few of her hands. 🙂 Last year I had ordered some blooms online for my mom. They had come nearly disappointingly (at first) as closed buds, no moisture, stems sealed with wax, in a box. After I clipped the waxed ends of and put them in water, they did quite well!

So when I offered to take some off of my aunt’s hands, I decided to try the same thing. I forgot to take pictures of the process, partly because it was late-thirty til we clipped the buds just before going to bed, and we had to leave at 3:45 the next morning for the airport. I chose mostly closed buds but some were partially opened. I clipped them as along stemmed as possible, dipped the stems in wax from candles that had been burning. I put them into a rubbermaid-type container, similar to a cupcake pan. I laid them in there and put a few clothes inside to protect it in case it got banged around (checked luggage). When I got home the next evening, they had fared the trip home pretty well. I wonder what TSA thought when they opened my suitcase. I know they did because the card they put inside checked luggage was there.

I had some fun with them when they were all opened up, a few days after getting home.

The only downside that I can think of is that they don’t stay good long enough. Sigh. The are like a lot of other flowers in that regard.

I am so grateful for those who share their beautiful blooms with me! 🙂