Hello, and welcome to Sunday Sundries! I’m here to ramble on about my week, it helps me be grateful and to “celebrate” all the small (and large) extraordinary moments in my life. Today I’m celebrating the beauty of a fading peony. I was trying to think why people are so gaga over these flowers … as a northerner, I can tell you. We have a very short growing season and extremely cold winters. The fact that such an exotic flower not only grows here, but actually thrives is nothing short of a miracle. I could not have explained it better than Canadian Gardening:
Herbaceous garden peonies boast all the attributes Canadian gardeners value: large, plentiful and easy to grow, many have sweetly fragrant flowers and are deer-resistant, drought-resistant and cast-iron hardy (to Zone 2). The plants are also substantial enough to be used on their own as a low hedge, with foliage that stays attractive for months (and makes great camouflage for ripening spring bulbs). Peonies are tremendously long-lived. Many a gardener can point to a treasured unnamed specimen passed along from the garden of a parent, grandparent or friend. Perhaps the only fault one can find with this paragon of perennials—besides the tendency for unstaked double-flower types to flop over in June thunderstorms—is that plants bloom just once a year, in early summer.
While I’m sad to say goodbye to these beauties, it’s OK … it’s time to move on … ( but it helps that I have preserved a few buds in the refrigerator to bring out later … tee hee).

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Sunday Sundries is on Instagram. If you want to play along, simply use #sunday_sundries (don’t forget the underscore) and tag me @keepingwiththetimes. The following image has been embedded right from my IG account. To embed a post from Instagram on your blog:
- Go to Instagram.com and log into your account.
- Click the photo you want to embed.
- Click on the three little dots in the lower left corner and choose Embed.
- Copy the code and paste it into your blog post making sure to use the “text” or “html” editing window.
- Here you can see my actual interactive IG photo complete with “likes” “comments” and you can even “follow” from here :)
What else am I celebrating?
- Sleeping in … I slept in 3 days in a row (granted I was sick from a couple of hornet stings) but I’m still celebrating a great comfy bed, and a good healing sleep.
- My hubby who protected me from many more bites two days later when we discovered a hornet nest on our boat … I hid under a beach towel, shrieking my head off while he defended me with HALF a fly swatter … bwahaha … it’s true! My hubby my Hero! :)
- Rain … I will always celebrate rain.
- My country home, my country garden, and my country lifestyle. I’m never so happy as when I’m home.
- A laugh. A good laugh.
So what are you celebrating this week? Please share!
Still loving those peonies, that final image is so beautiful. I actually managed to buy some peonies from a supermarket this week! They’re still closed up but am really looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. I think I’ll celebrate surviving Wednesday this week – it was atrociously hot (the office thermometer said the room temperature was 30 degrees). We finally got a storm on Friday night – bliss!
Thank you Bee … I’ve certainly enjoyed these flowers this year … I cannot imagine working in an office with a temp of 30 degrees … I’d celebrate surviving that also! Thanks so very much for linking up today!
Barb… your photos of the peonies are so gorgeous. After seeing your blog and so many others photographing peonies, I will planting some for next year. Thank you for starting Sunday_Sundries on IG. See you on IG!
That dragonfly slays me!!!! it’s so perfect in that photo. Thanks for the tip on embedding.
Hi Kelly,
Thank you for your kind comment and for dropping by my blog! I found that poor dragonfly stuck to the front of my car …so I thought I would honour it in death – it is beautiful isn’t it?