Planting Pink

That's it. I've just tilled the final small field in my big field full of peony fields. See the photo above? Since 2020, I've been slowly filling in every block with peonies. It's quite a sight to see in spring. And, as I say, the last block went under the tiller this week.

What are we planting in that field? We have all colors and shapes and sizes of peonies, more than you probably knew existed (sure more than I knew existed), but for this last field? We're going straight pink.

I knew, of course, that Sarah Bernhardt is the best-selling pink peony, ever, everywhere. But I resisted planting it for years for a couple of reasons.

First, it was listed as "late blooming" in every catalog I could find. Late blooming peonies are a risky thing in the South. Late season peonies are among the biggest, ruffliest, fluffiest peonies there are. But our summer comes on suddenly, and if it does so when the last peonies are in bud, they'll stop developing before blooming and break your heart. They just refuse to bloom if it gets too warm.

Second, if they're the most popular, they're everywhere. Maybe you can find them at flower shops and grocery stores and don't need me to grow them for you.

So for years I worked around the Most Popular Peony Variety, approximating the pinkness, the fluffiness, and we really do have some stellar pink varieties. I thought I was in the clear.

But then I got ahold of three small Sarah Bernhardt roots. I was going to plant them in my house flowerbeds and just see, I told myself. And you know what happened. I waited two springs, then watched that one tiny bud, with my back to my whole field of thousands, and fell head over heels in love. I'm disgustingly indiscriminate about which peonies I love. Just give me all of them.

It did not bloom late, as I had been promised. Peony varieties often bloom at different times in different places, and "late" on my farm is later than Sarah Bernhardt blooms here. It blooms, accommodatingly, the first week of May.

So, with the final field available to us, I throw up my hands and plant the inevitable Sarah. Along with Sarah, we're planting a new-to-us variety called Vivid Rose. I hope it means the color, and not the thorns or the maintenance demands.

Chiffon Parfait, another newcomer, joins the lineup to add baby pink to the mix.

And with our final available row, I'm moving a row of Pillow Talk to finish out the season. Pillow Talk is just a huge, over-the-top pink with fat buds and all the frills.

Hopefully this solves one of the ongoing problems at The Fields, that there's never enough pink. Unless it doesn't, and there just never is enough pink in the whole world. I can see that happening.

What do you think? Are we excited about PINK??

-Erin