another year of enjoying the taiyo tree peony bloom ( or at least i think it’s a taiyo peony ) for less than 24 hours before a torrential rainfall pummels the blooms. it happens every year. i realize they are blooming at a time of the year that’s prone to get torrential downpours but they are such good predictors of the timing of a downpour that it makes me wonder if the plant can sense a change in the barometric pressure which triggers a bloom?
like many blossomy things, including our peach tree, the violets have bloomed about a month early which is far too early for these parts and i suspect they’ll quickly succumb to an upcoming cold night before i get a chance to harvest.
which all means once again another year has passed without making violet syrup.
i think this might mark the sixth year of almost making the syrup. at this point, maybe i should just wait until an even decade passes.
the crazy, wacky, warm spring has brought out the peach tree blossoms mighty early this year which bums me out after The Transformative Power of A Real Peach ( and a little heavy whipping cream ) last year.
the first or second week of may is the official average last spring frost date in southwest wisconsin but many locals consider memorial day weekend to be the date when it’s finally safe.
so, chances are we’ll have a few more hard frosts between now and then. will The Delicate Peach Blossoms survive?
i’m no tree peony expert but i believe this variety we inherited with our home are a relatively rare japanese variety, paeonia japonica, known as taiyo or "the sun".
i could be wrong though, wouldn’t be the first time 🙂