Tag Archive: peony

PEONY FARM JOTTINGS…

admin March 20, 2020 0 Uncategorized peony, peony farm, peony seedlings, seedlings

Greetings from the Swenson Gardens peony farm! We are still experiencing technical difficulties with our blog. Repeated phone calls to our web hosting service continues to be ‘we’re looking in to this’? For now the best place to view real time photos are on our Facebook and Instagram sites. If our web hosting service ever resolves the ability to add photos to our blog posts, will be posting more often. So for now, here are the text only updates on our peony farm.

We are certainly blessed to have a somewhat normal winter so far. Adequate snowfall stayed on our peony fields allowing a blanket of insulation and retention of moisture as the snow melts. There are still some drifts left but for the most part, fields are void of snow cover. Seeing the color brown in the fields is a great feat of patience this time of year as the ground starts to warm up.

Speaking of the ground warming up, we’ve been monitoring soil temperatures the past few years and can now say with confidence that peonies begin to show above ground growth when the soil temperature is 44 to 46 degrees six inches deep in the soil. I’m not concerned with the ground temperature on the surface knowing that peonies grow from underneath the surface first. With more daylight hours now, green and color coming soon!

The fertilizer production team continues to grow and increase in quantity. Last evening we had our first new addition to the team in 2020 as a red Dexter heifer was born. Mom and daughter are doing great and the team was so excited to meet their new team member. Elvis Lee, our herd bull, was especially proud as he guarded mom and daughter from the team and us. He gets a tad protective when a new calf is born so glad he takes on that demeanor. However, having his horns brush against my unbeknownst back and lower extremity while petting the calf results in a quick escape and yes a bellowing SCREAM!

Heidi, our German Shepard, is now 2 years and 4 months old. She no longer has her puppy frame and is now rather imposing to visitors, cats and of course Redd our red lab. Redd is 10 years and 7 months old. He’s slowing down a lot and dad lifts him into and out of the Gator and tractors. His slower pace though changes in an instance when he gets tired of Heidi picking on him so he has to show Heidi who is still the boss. They are such a joy to have around and hopefully Redd stays healthy for many years to come.

Yes our cat patrol is still employed on our peony farm. There is far less shrieking going on in our home from some people as they seem to have reduced the rodent appearances. We now have 4 members of our cat patrol. Toby, Tiger, Grey Beard and Hey Stash. Hey Stash is a lovely black and white female cat that took on that name as she has a mustache. Cold nights finds all four of them huddled together in our heated garage. I’m sure they too are anxious for spring so they can spring into their rodent patrol job.

We are so anxious for our next batch of peony seedlings to bloom this spring. As you’ve seen on our new website, the seedlings from Roger F. Anderson and our own seedlings are world renown and very spectacular. Perhaps you were able to purchase some before they sold out and even now may be a great time to order some before they sell out as well.

We wish all of you good health, peace and God’s blessings! Happy peony gardening from Swenson Gardens!

LIFE ON THE PEONY FARM – Part 3

admin March 9, 2019 0 Uncategorized peonies, peony

As I posted earlier on life on the peony farm, we were expecting lots of snow during the day but with the warmer temperatures, sleet is now coming down. Hoping it turns back to snow when the temperatures cool down as the beginning of winter here was an ice skating rink. I went back to some earlier pictures of Redd and Heidi and came up with this photo. If only Redd could foretell the growth of Heidi as I found an earlier picture of those two last winter in this next photo.

Redd was an easy going guy at that time and very protective of her. Fast forward to 15 months old and oh how times have changed in this next photo.

Heidi tries her best to take over the dominant role but in the next photo, she hasn’t got the hang of it yet?

Though it gets fierce during these battles, any soft whimper from playing too hard is met with stoppage of play to assess any injuries. Don’t worry (like I do when they are playing hard), they seem to know their limits. A stand off occurs in the next photo.

Redd is 9 years and 5 months old. I tell him that Heidi is keeping him young! He doesn’t seem to hear me and most of the time he is actually the instigator. It was funny last week when Heidi decided to venture off on her own and didn’t return for food time. When she finally came home after Redd had finished eating, he reprimanded her fiercely to the point of her pinning her ears and tail between her legs when she entered her kennel for breakfast. I will give Redd the credit on that as since then, she does not venture off on her own. If only we could understand dogs barks and growls. Speaking of food, ok ‘bingo’s’ (as I like to call them), time to come in for food in this next photo.

As you can see in the photo, Heidi was already licking her chops for food time! My how their demeanor changes when its time for breakfast and supper. We like to feed them twice a day as we think it is better health wise for two very active dogs. I’m not sure if they like to eat or go for a ride best in this next photo.

Because it has been way too cold for our dogs most of this winter, yes ,they have taken over our Suburban (of course when its not stuck in our driveway from a previous post). We do not allow them to run free when it is below zero and when wind chills are dangerous. Redd takes over the passenger seat and Heidi loves to put her front paws on the console to look outside. As you can see she is a tad too tall for her ears to be held high. Since Heidi is our first German Shepard, I am amazed at her watchful eyes for all our family. Redd being a British Lab is more interested in the wildlife and birds around our peony farm instead of staying close to us. They make quite a pairing though when going into town for errands. Life on the peony farm doesn’t get better than this in the winter time!

LIFE ON THE PEONY FARM – PART 1

admin March 9, 2019 0 Uncategorized peonies, peony

What a winter we have had here on the peony farm. For us and I’m sure many others, we are surely looking forward to spring! Record snowfall and extremely low temperatures have been the norm since February 1st. With another 6-14 inches of snow forecast for today and tonight, that could mean a total of up to 55+ inches of snow that has fallen here since February 1st. YIKES! Thankfully as I look out our front door this morning, the peonies are nice and toasty under the much needed snow that we haven’t had for the past few years.

During last weekend’s blizzard, it took 3 hours to plow out our driveway so we could venture down to the main road.

Can you find one of our snowmobiles in the next picture? Snowmobiles are supposed to be on top of the snow not buried beneath the snow!

Yes there have been a few vehicles stuck on our driveway! Thankfully no one was injured other than our pride.

As we hunker in later today for our upcoming winter storm warning, it still amazes me how beautiful the sunsets are here on the peony farm in the winter. Perhaps this beauty helps us through the trials of snowstorms?

Hope you and yours are surviving winter in your area. Maybe in a few weeks or months(s) all of us will be breathing a sigh of relief from the winter of 2019! At least for us, life on the peony farm continues…