Happy Mother's Day... To Me!

Most of the time, gardening requires a lot of patience, but not without reward.  A few years ago, yes, years, I purchased a Japanese tree peony from a wholesale mail order place I purchase from frequently.  It was very expensive.  The reason being that true tree peonies are grafted off wood from the Emperor's garden.  So, there are not a lot of them floating around, and the ones that are here, are quite expensive. 

You can imagine how I babied the little stick that arrived on my doorstep.  It was not any taller than 8".  I potted it, not sure where I was going to plant it, and also thinking I didn't want it to put down permanent root yet, since we had been talking about moving, when we lived at our old house. 

When we moved, I brought it with me, of course, and was thankful I had left it in a pot.  I quickly found a suitable home for it and it flourished.  This is the first year it has bloomed!  I only got one, but I'll take it.  It has been so long since I ordered it, that I even forgot what color I ordered.

If you have ever been to the botanical gardens this time of year, you may have seen these in the Japanese garden.  It completely opened this morning.  What a great Mother's Day present...