In a Vase, on Monday – Queen of All Herbs

Chris Mousseau

It was a cool and slightly damp weekend here, perfect for gardening, really, and of course I was outside much of the time, mowing and trying to keep the garden under some sort of control. That meant pulling up or cutting back some of the Ox Eye daisies that spread so easily here and, in June, go from zero to a hundred at the blink of an eye. Instead of chucking them in the compost I’ve been trained, thank you Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, to at the very least plunk them in a jar and try for some sort of arrangement. Here’s that jar, joined by some excess cilantro that’s already on the verge of bolting:

While I was out there yanking up daisies I was on the lookout for cutable peony stems. I have a dozen or so peonies and they started to bloom a week ago but some of them are already finished. Spring is zipping by so quickly this year! I came across this line while looking for the origins of the work ‘peony’ – it’s on the Connecticut, U.S. Cricket Hill Garden site: An anonymous Greek poet penned a … sentiment around 300 CE with the epitaph: “Peony, queen of all herbs…” I like that, although I’ve never thought of this beautiful flower as a herb, in the traditional sense.

But a bit further on the page is this:

According to myth, Paeon was a student of Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. Leto, the goddess of fertility once told Paeon of a special root growing on the slopes of Mt. Olympus which would help soothe the pains of childbirth. Asclepius became jealous of his student, and in his rage threatened to kill Paeon. In order to save Paeon, Zeus turned him into a peony flower so that he could continue to alleviate the pain of women in childbirth. Some sources state that peony seeds were taken by pregnant women in ancient Greece.

Back to the garden. I do have these luscious white ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ peonies that are a bit later than others. These are special because of their thick stems plus their many small side blooms that will fill many small vases in the coming weeks. Here’s one patch:

I cut some from this clump, and I added a few pink ‘Bowl of Beauty’ plus two stems from the incredible unnamed double red that’s hanging on thanks to our refrigerator-like nighttime temperatures. Not wanting the vase to take itself too seriously, I cut a few just emerging garlic scapes and three of those bizarre looking walking onion flower stalks. The first photo was taken early in the morning, the second later in the afternoon, when the warm sunshine had coaxed Bowl of Beauty to fully open. Have a lovely week everyone!

20 Comments

  1. Luscious Peonies…I really like the whimsicalness of the Garlic scapes & Walking onions (don’t forget to eat some of those!)

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  2. That peony bush with dark green leaves and white flowers is gorgeous. As pretty as peonies can be in a vase, there’s something special about seeing them uncut and growing — and look at all those buds!

    You mentioned the “incredible double red” in your vase. Apparently my eyes didn’t deceive me! And for my morning grin, I noticed that same or similarly patterned coffee cup. It gets around!

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  3. What a creative vase especially with the inclusion of the scapes 🙂 I adore peonies and never knew they may have been medicinal at one time. The white variety is magnificent against the dark green foliage. Daisies are appearing all over the hillsides and meadows. A beautiful sight. Long lasting because it has been quite cool here of late too.

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  4. Wow, there will be a lot of peony blooms on that bush! Both vases, peonies and ox-eye daisies are pretty, Chris, and I am glad you have been trained to plonk some of your weedier things in a jar before they make their way to the compost heap!

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  6. The peonies do look grand – and artistic too, with those garlic and onion stalks! Interesting about peonies relieving pain… I always assumed they are poisonous. Glad you saved those daisies too…. they make such a pretty vaseful/jarful. 😃

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  8. ‘Bowl of Beauty’ is aptly named! I hope the garlic didn’t overpower the delicate scent of the peonies! 😀

    And thanks for the background on the Greek gods that gave this lovely plant its name. 🙂

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  10. Pingback: In a Vase, on Monday – Peonies, Part Deux – County Gardening

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