Peony Memories

The first peonies planted at Cedar Bluff lake house are blossoming this summer and I'm in awe of the depth of color in the blossoms. Peonies are such showstoppers with their big, loppy blooms and thick mass of petals.

The pink peony in the photo above came from a fundraiser that the Pigeon District Library sponsored a few years ago. The plant, like most peonies, has been slow to develop, but this year it has taken hold and has several big heads of flowers. Peonies are fussy; they like to be in one place for a while before they thrive.

My parents-in-law, John and Pauline Eichler, were married 67 years ago this month on June 22, 1946 in the farmhouse on Geiger Road. Pauline told me once that they picked masses of peonies and built a bank of flowers in the northwest corner of the living room. That spot became the background for their ceremony.

If memory serves me right, Mom Eichler said that they put the flowers into pickle crocks. I always imagined floor to ceiling flowers. It must have been quite a sight, all those peonies for a June wedding.

Pauline is the oldest of the nine Geiger children who were raised in our farmhouse. Then along came our three children. Through the years, those peony bushes, there must be at least twenty of them, provided lots of color in the yard at the farm, as well as cutting bouquet after cutting bouquet for the kitchen table.

Ed has one peony, a ruffled red with yellow center, that is planted at the lake house and is blossoming this summer. It is a transplant from the farm, so we will be continuing the peony memories here on the shoreline of Lake Huron, as well as at the farm.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler