Paeonia tenuifolia
While reading through THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN, issue number 81, after recommending it to you in connection with Tabebuia I came across an article set in Poland.
Wow! A friend of mine has lent me 15 or 16 Polish flowery stamps to scan and use for this project. The article is primarily about Clematis plants but peonies are mentioned growing in the “community gardens in Warsaw”
So here we go
This stamp was issued by Poland in 1964 in a series named
GARDEN FLOWERS
The article to read is POLISH SPIRIT by Caroline Davies
Also read PEONOMANIA by Myrto Aperghis in TMG, number 33, July 2003
The photo is of a peony plant growing in my parents’ garden. When they moved into their last and perfect home the area had previously been a farm so the garden was a blank slate to be filled as quickly as possible. Before the clean air act came into force for that area they had an open coal burning fire. The coalman was very friendly and jolly and brought a couple of peony plants from his garden to get their garden plan started. The plants were very strong and survived the cold wind, always a problem in that part of the garden, and the neglect of later years. They were still growing strong when we sold the house after 45 years. I hope someone rescued them when the house was revamped and the garden covered in paving.