These are the tree peonies on the university campus, just as they began to come back to life in late February. We kept a close watch on them, chronicling the transformation from bare branches to leafy bushes to a field of flowers. Some of the larger shrubs in the near-by peony park are as much as 50 years old.

In March the buds began to form. This bush illustrates not only the huge size of the buds, but their profusion. At this point, our anticipation for seeing the peony blossoms was reaching a fever pitch.

At last April arrived and the peonies bloomed. Here is Deanna posing among the blossoms. It seems that everyone wants their picture taken with this "Queen of Flowers". This is the same flower bed we showed you in the first picture on this page. What a difference in just a few months' time!

And here is Lee observing the time-honored ritual of posing in the peonies. As you can see, the peonies come in many varieties, sizes and colors.

This is an herbaceous peony, cousin to the famous tree peony. These plants are perenniel, coming up anew each spring. They bloom later than the bushes, and have smaller flowers, but also come in several colors. We thought these flowers were quite beautiful, and deserved a spot on this page.

We made an interesting discovery when we visited one of the peony parks. The plant I've always known as Bleeding Heart is related to the peony. The leaves are almost identical. Who knew, when I used to play with these uniquely shaped flowers in my grandmother's garden, that I would encounter them again in China!

In May the peonies go to seed, but even their seeds are spectacular. In the middle of this picture you can see five banana-shaped seed pods. As the summer progresses, the seed pods will grow darker in color and finally split, releasing their two rows of brown, pea-sized peony seeds. In three to five years, the new plants will begin to bloom.

By the way, China is currently growing some peonies from seeds that spent a week in space. It will be interesting to see what kind of flowers these seeds produce.

Copyright 2004, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 22 May 2004

Images and descriptions from this site may not be used without permission. For permission to use or to make comments, send email to leewil@quietsoftware.com