Gardening
Lush Peonies Add Beauty and Fragrance to Early Summer Gardens
Sarah Bernhardt peony, introduced in 1906, is one of the world's most popular peonies.
Photo credit: photo courtesy of Longfield-Gardens.com
Set aside a sunny spot in your garden or landscape for a few easy-care, herbaceous peonies. These traditional favorites are treasured for their bountiful early summer flowers, vigorous, shrub-like habit and amazing longevity. Peonies blend nicely with other perennials and are a good addition to both formal and informal garden designs.
The peony’s sumptuous flowers and captivating fragrance have been admired by generations of gardeners. While many other plants come and go, peonies have staying power. The variety ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ was introduced in 1906 and has been popular ever since. Its plush, pale pink flowers have silvery tips and open late in the peony season.
To maximize your enjoyment, extend the peony season by growing an assortment of early, mid and late-blooming varieties. Choose wisely and it’s possible to have peonies in bloom for a month or more. If you live in an area with relatively warm weather, plant more of the early and midseason varieties so the plants have plenty of time to display their blossoms before the weather gets hot.
Add variety to your peony display by including plants with different flower styles. Options include single, anemone, semi-double, double and bomb types. Herbaceous peonies also come in many beautiful colors, including white, cream, coral, pink, rose and dark red.
Start the season off with a few of the earlier bloomers such as Coral Charm, Buckeye Belle, Festiva Maxima, Bowl of Beauty, Black Beauty, Purple Spider and Red Charm (longfield-gardens.com). Coral Charm’s lightly fragrant flowers are a unique blend of coral and cream. This semi double peony is the recipient of the American Peony Society Gold Medal.
The large double ruby red flowers of Buckeye Belle are displayed on compact plants that are the perfect size for perennial gardens. Pairing this peony with the snowy-white flowers of Festiva Maxima is a striking combination.
Transition into mid-season with the heirloom variety Red Charm. Its long stems have few side buds, which makes it great for cutting. And the rose-like fragrance perfumes gardens and bouquets. For a completely different look, consider the fragrant, double bomb flowers of Lady Liberty. Its frilly inner petals are cream and apricot, and form a tight ball resting on a double row of flamingo pink petals.
Anemone-style peonies have frilly centers surrounded by a single or double row of larger petals. The variety Sorbet features layers of candy pink and cream petals. It is deliciously fragrant, with sturdy stems that are excellent for cutting. Don’t overlook other classic, mid-season bloomers like Duchess de Nemours, Celebrity and Red Supreme.
Close out the peony season with the large, raspberry-red blossoms of the classic French double peony Felix Crousse, and other time-tested favorites such as Lady Alexandria Duff and the beloved Sarah Bernhardt.
Peonies are known for their extravagant flowers, but the plants themselves are almost as impressive. Leaves emerge in spring with a tinge of red and reach a height of 3 feet within less than a month. By the time the flower buds appear, the plants are the size of a small shrub. After the flowers fade, the peony’s lush, deep green leaves remain all season, providing a nice backdrop for nearby blooms. As temperatures cool in fall, the foliage often displays a nice reddish fall color.
Bare root peonies may be planted in spring or fall. After planting, they will take some time to settle in. Young plants need 3 years or more to reach full size, but after that, they will flower every year for decades to come.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Longfield Gardens for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Online Auctions Remain Strong During the Pandemic
Antique hockey stick
Although auction houses are not able to run live auctions due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the demand to buy and sell at auctions remains high. Many auction houses have turned to online only auctions to meet this demand. Some items have brought strong prices recently and others will soon be sold that are also expected to sell very well.
A hockey stick dating between 1850 and 1870 is currently being auctioned online, according to Bleacher Report. The “Morse stick” was found by Anthony Bean when he purchased his grandmother’s Northfield, VT house in 1980. The stick was later gifted to Gary and Germaine Morse. The first recorded hockey game took place in 1875. “Hawkey” is reported to have been played in New England as early as 1845. Another hockey stick from the 1850’s known as the “Rutherford stick” sold for $2.2 million in 2018. The Morse Stick has a starting bid of $100,000 and may set a record. It has a $3.5 million auction estimate.
Many people have been watching shows on live streaming platforms during the pandemic. One of the most popular is “Tiger King” on Netflix. TMZ reported that a pink sequined shirt worn by the main Tiger King character, Joe Exotic, was recently auctioned online with a $650 starting bid. The owner told TMZ that the Greater Wynnewood (G.W. Zoo) Exotic Animal Park had previously sold clothes worn by staff members. He purchased the shirt from the zoo for $100. The owner had also seen some of Joe Exotic’s hats being offered online for $800. The auction for the shirt ended on April 17th. It received 43 bids and sold for $10,400.
ABC News reports that a "very special" Porsche 911 Speedster that was recently delivered to a California dealership will soon be auctioned. "Typically we would not auction a car that has historic relevance to us -- it would go [to] a special customer or in our museum," according to Klaus Zellmer, president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. The Speedster is the “last 991 generation 911 that rolled off the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen production line in December.” The two-seater convertible is one of only 1,948 produced. Porsche will donate all proceeds to the United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. The car has an estimated value of $312,000.
Movie stars, sports figures, and other celebrities are also helping raise funds for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Opportunities to meet celebrities, buy memorabilia, and for other fan experiences can be found at allinchallenge.com. You can also buy raffle tickets for some of the events for only $10. As of Sunday, April 19th, $11,646,495 had already been raised.
We have been contacted by several individuals who want to auction their collections online to help them with their financial needs during the pandemic. We can auction larger collections of coins, gold jewelry, diamonds, Sterling silver, 1960’s baseball cards, comic books or other valuable items that are easy to ship. If you have items you’d like to auction, please reach out to us for no-contact options for receiving your items. When the current restrictions are lifted, we will be rescheduling many events. Keep checking www.centralmassauctions.com for details as things progress. In the meantime, I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com