Peony time

Every year I cut some peonies and put them in the same green glass bowl on the coffee table. The other evening a sunset light hit them at the moment I happened to walk by. It was a photographer's dream light that only lasted about 30 seconds. If I don't say so myself, this is a lovely (and Photoshop untouched) composition. Almost like a painted Renaissance still life.  Or a Hallmark card. But it was just serendipity and a pretty good digital camera.

Peonies are wondrous old flowers, rich in history, legend and myth.  The Latin name Paeonia comes from Paeon, the "physician of the gods" in Greek mythology.  And here he is, doing something nasty to someone.

The peony is an important ingredient for Chinese medicine.  In Europe it was used as a remedy for lunacy, epilepsy and liver problems. In the 19th century, country folk in England made peony root beads for teething babies, and used it ward off evil spirits.  Peonies were one of the first flowers the Europeans brought to America.  Despite being used as medicine for thousands of years, today the peony is thought of as just an old-fashioned, homey, grandma-garden type of flower. 

The pronunciation of "peony"  is often mangled, maybe because of the double vowels. The correct pronunciation is "PEA-onie" but you sometimes hear people trying to say "PAY-onie."   In the old South it is simply called the "Piney," which sounds kind of sweet and simple.