Week two: Peonies, Peonies, More Peonies!
Peonies are the stars of spring. They are so fluffy, and smell so good, they just can’t be overshadowed.
I brought this vase all around the house with me like a little pet last week. She sat next to my glass of water when I was working on the computer, she slept on the nightstand next to my bed, she came with me to Touch-a-Truck where we were promoting the farmer’s market lol. For a flower, she got to see quite alot of the world.
I wanted to be able to drink in the smell as often as I could.
The light pink peonies are a variety called Sarah Bernhardt. She is one of the oldest varieties of Peony. I grow only late-blooming varieties of peonies rather than early flowering types for a couple reasons. One is that I enjoy the form of them much more. Early blooming varieties tend to be single petaled varieties and I just love the fluffiness of Sarah and her later-blooming counterparts. The other is because early-blooming peonies typically bloom before the farmer’s market starts in June, and even though peonies will last reliably in a cooler for weeks, I prefer to sell them fresh.
In addtion to fresh cut peonies, there will be potted Jacorma Peonies just budded up and about ready to bloom. Jacorma is among the latest blooming varieties, so if you already have peonies in your garden, and are looking to extend your peony season, Jacorma is a great one to add. Questions about growing peonies in your garden? Here’s a quick Q and A: Click here.
Here’s the complete list of what will be available at the market tomorrow:
Fresh Flowers
Standard $25 bouquet featuring:
Peonies (fragrant)
Iris
Lady’s Mantle
Bupleurum
Sweet William (fragrant)
Bachelor buttons
Peonies by the stem $4-$5ea
Free sweet williams for kiddos
Plants
Jacorma Peonies ($25 with bloom, $20 w/o bloom)
SPECIAL companion plant combo: 1 tomato + 4 types of basil for $15
Tomatoes (Verona, Rutgers $4ea)
Basil (Lemon, Sweet, Thai, Purple ruffles $5ea or 4/$15)
Cut flower plugs (LAST WEEK 12/$10)
Zinnia (oklahoma salmon, queen and cactus giants)
Cosmos (double dutch rose)
Gomphrena (raspberry cream and strawberry feilds)
Sunflower (autumn beauty)
Nasturtium (4” and 8” pots $4/$10)
Sedum (4” and 8” pots $5/$15)
Chives (8” pots $15)
Dill (2.5” pots $5)
Peppers (Jalapeno, Banana $5)
Lupine
Rudbeckia
This is the last week I’ll be bringing tomato plants to the market (at least in the small pots that they are rapidly outgrowing), so I thought I’d run a special so you can recreate this potted tomato and basil companion planting at home!
You’ll need a large container, like 5 gallon buckets sized. You plant the tomato in the middle, and plant the 4 types of basil around it. They grow so well together, and you’ve got brushetta waiting for you anytime :) A tomato cage helps, but isn’t entirely necessary.
See you at the market tomorrow!!
If you need a reminder, it’s 3-7pm on Wednesdays in downtown Derry at 1 West Broadway, Derry, NH.
Cheers,
Beth
