is actually a peony bud. Doesn’t it look like a big ole red rose? When it opens it looks like this:
This is the Hephestos Daphnis peony which is part of the peony garden at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology. My friend E and I took a stroll through the garden last week and out of all 125 species of peonies this was my favorite, which is saying something. The blossom looks like rich red leather and I couldn’t stop ooohing over it.
After spending an hour in the garden we walked through the library and marveled at the exhibit of early microscopes and made our way to the rare book room where the librarian was kind enough to show us around. Their oldest book is more than 500 years old. Chickadees, I saw a first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species as well as later editions in German and French, which are hardly old (1859) in comparison to some of their collection but still left me awestruck. I felt very uneducated and immediately came home and read the front page of the newspaper instead of the funnies.
Not that it helped.
By the way in this house, we say PEE-uh-nee, not pe-O-nee. I know there is disagreement over which to use, but my mother always pronounced it PEE-uh-nee so I figure the petals shouldn’t fall far from the shrub. Or something.
That is a beautifully colored peone.
I grew up with the uh sounding version. Happy Thursday!
Pee-uh-nee here, too. I just checked the Merriam-Webster site and they agree with you, too.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?peony001.wav=peony
All that to the side, that is one gorgeous peony. I need to get me one of those (along with about a gazillion other things, plus a gardener to do the heavy lifting/digging).
oh lovely tree peony! I have two, one blooms and the other is still mad at me for transplanting it six years ago. ;o)
I never heard anyone say it other than your way.
I say it like you, like I say pianist. It’s gorgeous!
I also say it your way. Thanks for sharing a lovely and unusual peony! I wonder if it will live up in my part of the country? Will have to research…..
I feel uneducated regularly. I think that is probably good so I don’t get too puffed up.