Ah, HA! See what I see?
Oh, no you don't, sneaky little one.
You are not allowed in there. 
I promised more peony photographs. This series shows how happy they were with the new paths that defended them against so much lush growth of other plants. I miss the irises, though. They were in too much shock to bloom this spring, and need more time to get established... maybe next year.
I think you have already seen some of these, but maybe that is OK. The tall blues in the background are Dames's Rocket, inside the bed with the peonies are English Bluebells (some white and some pink), and a few Spanish Bluebells.
My photographs from this spring were taken early in the season; I had to dip into the store of photos from years past to show what they looked like when the buds opened. That explains why there are as many irises in the pictures as there are. They did not bloom this year.
Have you ever seen so many buds! I don't de-bud them to make larger flowers. Have never had time, and I like smaller blooms.
All that anguishing last autumn over decisions, regarding the course for the paths, paid off. I think we guessed correctly about where the dormant peonies were located and squeezed the path through just right. Wonders do happen once in a while.
As you can see, it was early and most were still in bud stage. It was interesting to see which bloomed earliest, and which later. Here is an early semi-double white.
And, yes, I do leave Common Fleabane in the beds as accent and filler, then rip it out after it blooms. There is plenty for next year that comes up from the remaining roots.
Then out across to the other end can be seen another, taller, white.
That one seems different from the others. It is taller and larger. I have always wondered if it were a tree peony. Here it can be seen floating in a sea of Nigella foliage (love-in-a-mist) just before it blooms (blue).
Seen from another angle.
I like the way the centers of the peony blossoms seem to echo the blooms on the pine branches.
I always have trouble editing out any of the pretty photos. Sorry if I bore you with so many that are very similar.
The peony that most people notice and comment about, and the first to bloom, is Coral Charm. The next few shots pretty much give you views of the yard counter-clockwise from nine o'clock position swinging around to one o'clock.
This is my last post about peonies. I am sure you have had your fill of them by now.
Chemicals free, I love to bury my face in theirs, steal a kiss rightfully belonging to a bee, then breathe deeply of that strong soap-like fragrance... and, lock it in my memory to last until May of next year.
Don't forget that you can click on the photos and enlarge them. That seems to help these group pictures.
