Here in Minnesota we have experienced an unusually short spring season and have quickly moved into the summer season. Our temperatures jumped from temperate to “just plain hot” quickly, and with that it seems everything has bloomed and blossomed at the same time. The lilacs came and went. Daffodils, tulips, poppies, iris, and peonies all burst into bloom together. It’s been beautiful and yet it’s also been overwhelming, and it seems that it’s now all gone.

But the peonies have always had a fleeting time of bloom. Their greenery grows rapidly once the snow is gone and the sun warms the ground. The tight buds form, then start to show color, and then the ants are seen all over the buds. Peonies provide sugar and compounds that the ants need, and the ants benefit the peonies by keeping other potential invaders away from the blooms. This year the early heat with temperatures in the upper 80’s and even 90’s seemed to shorten the already fleeting peony bloom. I felt like I needed to harvest as many flowers as I could to bring inside and out of the intense heat, hoping to give them a chance of lingering a bit longer. The benefit to me is it allowed me to savor their beauty and their scent so much more.