Every morning since I planted, I’ve been jumping out of bed and barreling down the stairs and out the front door to check out my latest frontscape acquisition.

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Bowl of Beauty’. And what a beauty.

I’m a bit of a peony ‘ho. They’ve been in almost every garden on every property we’ve ever lived. They’re showy. They’re fragrant. They’re hard-to-kill — a must for this gardener.

They have lovely, dark green leaves.

This specimen has more the look of a single bloom than a cabbage rose, and should be less likely to topple its stem.

They’re a great cutting flower.

They add the splash of color to my frontscape that I was looking for.

I planted two. They grow! One suffered a stem loss during that rainy wind we had last week. WAH. What remains is still in bud form.

Peonies! We loves ’em!!

Next year, they’ll be twice as showy.

That is all.