Stop And Smell The Peonies

We've all heard the saying "Stop And Smell the Roses" but nobody ever tells us to stop and smell the peonies. I wonder why? Maybe it's because they are so fragrant all on their own that they make you instantly stop? I'm not sure, but today as I was in my garden I stopped along the way to smell my peonies. 


The peony was named after Paeon, a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. When Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. 

When we moved in to our home we were gifted with several flowers, the peony was one of them. Although I'm not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination I have tried by trial and error to see where the flourish the best. I moved them from the back of the house to the side of the house and now they have found their home in the front. They must like where they are because this year they are really blooming. I have five peony bushes carrying a variety of white, pink and hot pink flowers. They have exquisite large blossoms, and their fragrance is heavenly.


My mom always told me that you should give the first fruits if your labor and gift them to someone. Today I will visit my mom and give her the first fruits of my peony bush labor. Here are what they look like.

Are the fruits of your labor not blooming? They may be the result of any of these factors:

Planting too deeply
Immature plants
Excess nitrogen
Inadequate sunlight
Overcrowding
Phosphorus and/or potassium deficiency
Insect or disease problems
Competition from roots of nearby plants
Late freezes

Today as I was going for a walk during my lunch break I smelled the most beautiful fragrance. It made me stop in my tracks to try to identify where it was coming from. I looked to my left and there it was - a blooming magnolia tree. …and then I did the unthinkable…. I clipped a flower off of it. As I walked back I kept digging my nose deeper and deeper into it, I couldn’t get enough of its aroma. Although there have been some signs of spring here in New England,  it has still been a bit chilly, so this was quite a treat to see a magnolia tree full of blooms.

When I got back to my office it slowly closed its petals. I think it was very upset with me that I had destroyed its potential to become something greater. That’s when I began to open its petals one by one….and that’s when I made the most wonderful discovery. Deep in its core, sheltered by its petals was an inner gem. It looked like a tiny cactus with pink pokers. Obviously it was not, but that is what it looked like to me. It reminded me of the fairy book that I read my lovely last evening. This fairy book had the extraordinary art and pages that unfolded and popped up making your eyes widen at every turn. For a moment my imagination took me to a fairy filled land with pixie dust and fireflies…….and then just as quickly as this fantasy begun, it ended to the sound of  my email chiming ding , ding, ding. That was the end of that daydream.

I often enjoy the joy of my imagination running wild. It reminds me to stop to delight in such discoveries, because you never know where they will take you. Today I challenge you to dig deep into the core of a flower, smell its aroma, scrutinize its every petal, jump deep into the heart of it, and dream, if only for a moment of an enchanted place in the middle of  the woods, far far away from those four walls that surround you daily. 
  

Click here to purchase this pop up fairy book "How To Find Flower Fairies