Has anyone seen any white peonies? My, my what a strange spring. Last year our first peony blooms showed on May 13th. This year I have no idea when our first peony blooms will show. Trees are void of buds and our grass is still brown. Even our Magnolia’s buds are stubbornly showing about 1/4″ of green. Two to three weeks behind normal? I really don’t know especially when you look at the following pic taken moments ago looking south to some of our peony fields.
Blizzard conditions are raging outside and weather forecast is predicting 11 to 21 inches of SNOW by tomorrow. With the 20 to 35 mph winds, travel is not recommended. For those of us in the path of this monstrous snow storm, be safe out there. Those of you in the NE that had multiple storms like this, how did you make it through? Yes we needed moisture but by way of snow vs rain? The good news with this much snow is the fact that the freeze/thaw will be tempered (slowed down) by the snow. Ground temperature is 34F about a foot down and 30F on the surface. Once we get to the magic 45F+, finally we will see above ground growth on the peonies. Also, snow is a marvelous provider of nitrogen and trace minerals especially when it melts quickly, like next week, versus staying on the ground most of the winter. Not sure if we’ll be planting any snow peas yet as my dad always said to plant snow peas after the last snowfall. By not planting them, I’m hoping we are done with snow so the ground starts to warm up. No signs of spring growth above the ground with our peonies. Could this be the latest peony bloom? Will know more in a few weeks. For now though, I’m envisioning white peonies as I look out the window!