First name / Hey you, I had this all drafted up to send to you LAST Monday, but then, welp, $hit got weird. One of the last big plantings on the farm this fall was peonies. That was not the plan, of course. I had ordered them to be delivered October 4, but more on that in a bit.
Ahh peonies. I feel a strong pull toward them, and although it's hard to even know where to start, I want to share that connection with you today. This one is certainly from the heart, sorta/kinda weird, and definitely long, so fill up your mug, grab a comfy blanket, and join me, if you will, as I try to make sense of it all.
My Great Grandma Marge loved peonies. Her granddaughter, my mama, vividly remembers watching little ants march across their petals when she was a little girl. I'm named after both of them (Marguerite Michaelyn), but I only learned of her love of peonies a few years ago, after sharing with my mom that I felt this unexplainable connection to them.
A surprise to both of us at the time, because well, this is kind of embarrassing, buuuuuuuuut . . .
I used to think flowers were frivolous.
I KNOW. When I started gardening (which is an entirely other embarrassing story all on it's own), I basically scoffed at wasting any precious garden space on anything that did not have a utilitarian purpose (although I'm not sure growing 30+ heirloom tomatoes for a family of 2 was ever really practical . . . let's face it, practicality has never been my strong suit).
Anyway, I convinced myself a massive garden was sensible because it was made up of vegetables. But then we accidentally ended up with 50ish peony plants . . . and everything changed forever.
When Matt and I moved into our first home, it was winter, so we had no idea that a previous owner planted numerous perennial flowers. Honestly, I probably never would have even noticed them at all had Matt not pointed them out come spring. And super honestly, I was probably like meh, that's cool, but did you see this heirloom tomato in the baker creek catalog?!
So, Matt took care of them and I went on dreaming of rare peppers and purple tomatoes. But then a funny thing happened.
Every time I'd go out to the garden with my camera, it was as if my lens was drawn to the peonies. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I loved watching them go from bud to full bloom. I started to notice just how many peonies there were and how magical it felt to be around them. Then I started to notice all of the other beautiful perennials: lilacs, tulips, narcissus. Just like that, I was catapulted into the world of flowers.
And clearly, I never looked back. While I'm forever thankful to the prior owner for planting such inspiration (and for Matt who nurtured them), I like to think that GG Marge had a hand in it too. I've always been someone who is searching, searching, searching . . . for meaning, for purpose. And oftentimes, my deep desire for the destination can cloud my judgement on how to get there. It's almost comical how clear the path is when I stop getting lost in my own stubbornness.
I like to think I'm perceptive, but if I'm honest, it usually takes something flashy and obvious to get my attention: you know, like a massive planting of peonies. It's as if GG Marge knew that one plant wasn't going to cut it.
So here I am, trying to plant it forward, hoping the flower that inspired me will spark something in another. Peonies are an investment, and they take years before you can harvest the blooms, but in my heart I know we're meant to grow them.
Even if their shipment was delayed by 6+ weeks, oy! Due to the worldwide supply chain issues, neither I nor the wholesaler had any idea when we could expect the shipment. Because ground freeze is right around the corner, I was about to throw in the towel.
But then they showed up, completely unannounced. I checked the weather forecast: the next day looked decent, but the rest of the week said freezing rain/snow.
This is the part where I maybe slightly panicked, frantically started texting Matt (he was still out west), while deciding I should try and start the tiller (it was already pitch dark out), then somehow managed to jam the pull start, all before I even realized one of the tires was completely flat.
But then I took a deep breath, thought it through, and maybe had a glass of whiskey.
I was able to take off work, and thank goodness for family! Matt's dad met me bright and early in the morning to break up the new ground with the tractor. I put down landscape fabric, fertilizer, compost, and planted them bad boys. I may have finished at dark, headlamp and all, but I got them in. And Matt's mom sent over dinner, so I had something warm and yummy when all was said and done.
And that's the other reason I love them! They remind me of family, whether the history of those who loved them or the loved ones who helped me plant them. The following freezing-rain evening, I got to spend a fun evening with my mom. I was recanting all of the craziness and how thankful I was that the peonies showed up. And that's when she said:
It makes sense they showed up this week. It was Great Grandma Marge's birthday. She would have been 126.
And First name / honestly, this is where I was going to end the story. This is where I should end the story. It's a great ending!
But in my world, things don't often make sense, and they usually just get weirder. And the story just drags on. If you're still with me, you're my kinda people. You deserve a refill of whatever you're drinking. I'll refill too.
OK, so what I left out in the story was that 3 varieties I ordered were on backorder (Monsieur Jules Ellie, Pink Hawaiian Coral, and Angel Cheeks). As I was about to send this letter out to you on Monday, Fedex showed up at our door with what I assumed was the backordered peonies. Well what it waaaaaaaas was 2 of the backordered peonies plus duplicates of 165 plants that I already planted.
Me: Ummmmmmmmm backorder peonies came PLUS duplicates of all the varieties I already planted.
Matt: What?! You call the wholesaler?
Me: Maybe Great Grandma Marge sent them :)
Of course, I immediately reached out to my rep, but neither she nor her supervisor knew what to do. I started to think, what if, WHAT IF, I accidentally just ended up with 165 peony plants?!
Delusional? Maybe. I just sorta figured they'd think I was *such* a good citizen for reporting the missing peonies that they would let me keep, I dono, all of them?
So I held off sending this, and started rewriting it for a giveaway: you get a peony plant, you get a peony plant, and YOU get a peony plant! And I get a peony plant! And Matt gets a peony plant! And Reese gets a peony plant!
It was a really great ending, I assure you.
Unfortunately, it turns out they do actually want their peonies back and really aren't all that impressed with my good citizenship. I know, I'm shocked and disappointed too.
