Blooming.

I've been waiting patiently for the peonies to bloom. I've been watching the fat buds for over a week. Yesterday we got a couple of hours of sunshine and apparently that was just enough to send the pink peony to full flower. I'd have guessed the magenta ones first in a minute. The pink looked behind. Guess you can't tell just by looking.

With the losses suffered last year I now have 3 bushy peonies and one pathetic one. Of the bushy ones 2 are chock full o flowers and one has 1 flower. And I managed to lose most of the variety. There are 3 magenta peonies and the splendid pink one. But at least I know to get the other colors when I fill the gaps from the losses. The only trick will be to keep the husband and dog from killing the replacements like they did the previous ones.