Wednesday 6 June 2012

A Peony For Your Thoughts

And it's a tree peony too.


This is a Japanese Tree Peony, sorry I don't know which variety it is. I bought it a long time ago, I mean a very long time ago. I purchased two of them and planted them in the front garden. One of them, a lovely yellow double, was planted under the front window, where it just grew and grew. As it was obviously in the wrong place, I decided to move it. Big mistake. Tree peonies don't like moving. It died.

So this one I left alone. It only grows to about four or five feet, dependent on the severity of the winter. It was quite happy until the gas men came and dug up the pavement near the front garden. The gas pipe they were replacing was quite close to the peony's roots. Tree peonies don't like root disturbance. Don't worry , it didn't die, but it did sulk quite a bit. It seems a lot better now than it was last year, so hopefully it is now recovering from the experience.

The flowers are dinner plate size, huge things, but very heavy, and they bow their heads to the ground. So despite having about a dozen blooms at the moment, after the recent rain, the flowers are all facing downwards, and the display is hidden. No point in trying to lift them up; heavy rain forecast for tomorrow. Oh well.

You may have seen in previous posts, the bird feeder I use, which is covered in a squirrel guard. The guard keeps out the squirrels and the large birds, but I wasn't expecting this:


Didn't know snails liked bird seed. On the subject of bird seed, I read a letter recently where someone was asking if birds are particular about the bird food they are given. The letter writer said that if he changed the make of bird food, the birds weren't happy and would ignore the food until their regular make was offered. I too have experienced this. I usually get my bird food from CJ Wildbird Foods, but if on occasion I buy from another supplier, you know special offers and the like, the birds won't eat it. Even food from other very reputable suppliers is ignored. It's as if the birds just don't like change. The BTO say birds can tell which food is best, and they will eat the best food and ignore poorer quality food. I suppose it's a bit like, once you've sampled M&S food, do you really want to go back to Tesco?

20 comments:

  1. Hey,

    Have you tried the new hybrid Peonies which are meant to hold their blooms up?? Shame about the price though!!! Often at over £100 is a bit stupid imo.

    re: birdseed I haven't really experienced this as such in terms of actual makes but certainly I have experienced them being picky about types of feeders. Mine refuse to use seed feeders so I have to give sunflower hearts in peanut feeders with a dish under or they're actually OK with the purpose-made sunflower heart feeder.
    For a long time I also couldn't get them to eat fat balls but now they seem to like the brand I get - from B&Q, others didn't go down so well and there was a lot of rubbish left over on the floor around the feeders.

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    1. You got me interested there, until you mentioned the price tag. I'll stick with the downward facing blooms.
      Not experienced that with the feeders, but they are very picky about fat balls and fat squares.

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  2. My Mum has a tree peony like that. The flowers are heavy even without rain but it's nice to lift them up to have a look. I've tried to grow cuttings from it but they were unsuccessful - I don't know for sure if cuttings would turn into a tree anyway.

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    1. My tree peonies are grafted onto normal peony rootstock. I think it's because the hybrid itself makes very weak roots. That might explain why your cuttings didn't root.

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  3. The birds round these parts must be a rough lot then...they eat anything AND everything!!! lol xx

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    1. Ha ha. Yes, we're really posh up here in Yorkshire.

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  4. Ha! Too funny :) Good old M & S.

    Beautiful tree peony.....something I have thought about but never tried. I am in a frost pocket, so don't think they would do well ???

    Yep, I find it exactly the same and strangely enough, I use the same bird food as you......

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    1. I thought it was just coincidence until I read that letter and BTO's reply.

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  5. I have been having similar issues with birds and feed and feeders. I just moved one feeder to the back of the garden because I was getting a lot of birds that I didn't want to attract. I need to figure out what seed to put in the feeder outside the window of my study so I can get the birds I want.
    Also, I mentioned your blog in my latest post. Check it out.

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    1. I find sunflower hearts attract really nice birds over here, and they don't make as much mess as sunflower seed with husks.
      Thanks for the award, much appreciated.

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  6. I didn't realise birds could be picky about their seed packs! Too bad your snail isn't in jail! With the rain, slugs and snails are making up for lost time in my garden!

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    1. I threw the snail and several others into some shrubbery, but I've read that they come back like a homing pigeon. With all this rain, I can just imagine them marching back.

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  7. Beautiful photographs, flower has a fantastic colour. I am greeting

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  8. Ooh, that Peony is gorgeous unlike your terrible pun ;-) I too was surprised one day to see snails all over the bird seed!

    Yes, I too find the birds very fussy over their seed which I suppose shows they have a lot more intelligence than some people give them credit for. They obviously know quality when they taste it.

    I am still laughing over the reply about the wine glass :-)

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    1. What pun ? It was a typo. Mind you, I don't like typos. Alright then, I give in, it was a pun.

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  9. Wow, that tree peony flower is huge, what a lovely plant to have in your garden. Funny to read about the birds turning down the 'inferior' seed.

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    1. One of the flowers was so heavy, that it broke off in today's rain and wind. It's now floating in a water feature like a giant water lily.

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  10. Oh !!!
    Very beautiful peony !!!
    Have a nice weekend.

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