My vase today is simply filled with beautiful peonies. They smell wonderful.
The heads are fully open and frilly, because I picked them several days ago. They didn’t come from my garden. I went to a local Pick Your Own flower farm … which I had no idea existed until last week.
Here’s the tale (it’s not long, don’t worry). In keeping with most Brits, particularly gardeners, I am obsessed with the weather. I check the BBC website for the forecast several times a day (well they are often not so great at forecasting, but their nearly nowcasting isn’t too bad). Anyhow, along with loads of other people, I occasionally send in photos of our ‘local’ weather. These are all added to an interactive map (and some are chosen to be the backdrop for the recorded weather forecasts). On a daily basis someone selects and highlights a couple of favourite shots of the day and it was on this ‘Editor’s Picks’ page, that I discovered that there is a massive field of peonies planted a couple of villages over. Then it was then a matter of googling for location and ‘peonies’ and, hey presto, I was able to check the flower farm’s details on Facebook. As luck would have it, their latest post mentioned that there was one more day to pick-your-own peonies before the field was closed for the season.
So obviously, the next day I went to see the field and it was magnificent.
Here are some general views over the field:
Sadly, the ‘White’ section was already closed when I visited, but there were plenty of reds to choose from.
So red peonies are what are in my vase today for Cathy’s Weekly vase meme.
Head over to Cathy’s blog to see more lovely blooms and arrangements!
Frogend dweller's Blog 
wow, those fields are amazing.
🙂 I agree
Incredible fields!
Gorgeous and scented too!
Oh, my, the scent in those fields must have been heavenly! What a great idea. Second best will be their fall foliage. 🙂
I hadn’t thought of that … must remember to check
Wow, that would only happen in my dreams here! We share the same issues with weather forecasting on this side of the pond, or more specifically the left coast.
Mine too until last week. It’s such a good idea. Re. forecasting, I also have seaweed and pine cones in the garden to check 😉
What a wonderful discovery! They are gorgeous. In fact All peonies are gorgeous aren’t they? 😉 Mark that on your calendar for next year! Do you know if they grow them for selling the rhizomes to garden suppliers?
Yes definitely needs to be recorded, although their FB page suggests they are ~ three weeks late this year, so I should leave a good margin for weather. No, sorry, I don’t know. I did find out that that are a major supplier to Tesco and that demand has doubled in the last two years (since Meghan/Harry wedding).
Oh what a treat for you! I’m excited just reading about it. The peonies are wonderful! Thanks for sharing this!
A pleasure! 🙂 I was so happy to have found out about their existence before they closed the field for this year. Indeed, the local paper had a small piece on the peonies the evening after my visit. Imagine if that was how I discovered them … it would have been too late!
That looks like heaven to me! And to think I grew up thinking peonies only were pink!
What a stroke of luck and what a treat – for us too! You were there at the perfect stage for photography with so many flowers open. My only question is how on earth did you choose which ones to pick from so many beauties?
Somehow I missed seeing your post on Monday, Allison – sorry. What a great discovery and what astonishing scarlet peonies these are, if the colour is reproduced accurately that is. Fields of peonies just be a sight to behold! What sort of price is charged for pick your own?
I am intrigued to read that the photo backdrops on the BBC weather are often from the public – is that just on the website or on the TV forecasts too?
No worries! I do that all the time. Yes, the peony field was a fantastic find. They were selling 15 heads for £11. Yes they do use photos from the public in their broadcast forecast. You’ll notice they often say things like ‘There’s been some spectacular rainbows about as you can see in this shot of XXX from one our weather watchers’.
Thanks for that – and I will listen more carefully when they mention the backgrounds in future. Their origins always puzzled me until now!