The sun is shining here in Wiltshire and I was working in my garden this morning and noticed that buds are forming on my coral charm peony plant! Having never grown these before, you can understand I was a little excited.
As a florist, I think peony are one of my favourite flowers to work with. The season in the UK starts at the end of April and generally runs through to July, though that is entirely weather dependant!
They continue to be a very popular wedding flower, working beautifully in bridal bouquets. Whether your thinking of having a teardrop style or hand-tie bouquet, they both look fabulous. The shower bouquet has Sara Bernhart included and the hand-tie has coral charm included. I love them both for their blowsy look and the scent of them is just gorgeous.
I’ve started gathering more peony inspiration on our Pinterest account which you can check out here. Pinterest is always a great place to get ideas, if these flowers are not something you have used before then do check the board out.
If your growing them in the garden like I am, it can apparently take quite a while to get the plant established. I bought my two plants last year from Sarah Raven and the instructions said to keep them in a pot for a year and then plant out in the garden. I guess this is to help them get established as when they arrived, they were just bare roots.
One of our newest ventures from last year from to create our BloomBox subscription flower service, this is a monthly service that delivers British grown flowers through the post. Our hope is that once peony season has started, we will be able to include them in our deliveries. Just imagine the smell as you open the box! 🙂
I’ll leave you with this coral charm peony bouquet that I created for Leanne. Using cream stocks, variegated pittosporum and some pale pink spray rose along with the peony, it was safe to say this bridal bouquet smelt amazing!
I’ve just ordered 4 different peony plants for my garden! I know it’ll be a bit of a wait until they bloom, but that’s what I love about it- the anticipation! I’ve graduated from growing veg to try growing flowers and the types I’ve chosen make good cut flowers. Now all I need is to learn arrangement techniques! Please let me know when your next workshops are?
I know what you mean about anticipation. I think I’m just going to enjoy my peonies as they bloom this year and bring them into the house, I’m watching them every day, its fascinating to see how they develop. If you check out the store on Young Blooms website I’m gradually starting to put workshops up there. 🙂