As I look to my earliest posts, I realize that they need some updating in terms of layout, as I've improved a bit in that regard over the course of the past year. My goal with this blog has been a 'photo journal' of sorts for my kids and grandkids and family down the road. As a result, I am going through and enlarging the photos and pulling things together a bit, as it were. It only takes a couple minutes so I may throw in a couple reposts each day. I will label each as "Updated reposting" and I am removing the original. If you are one of my newer followers, you may find these of interest... Larry
I've been thinking about peonies lately. Perhaps they have been on my mind because of the Tiffany reproduction shade commission that I recently completed. Pictured here, it is known as the "elaborate peony" and is one of a number of Tiffany Studio peony designs. For example, there are 16", 18" peony designs, as well as a 24" border peony and the 28" peony cone which is sometimes referred to as the floral bouquet shade. Actually two designs in a 22" diameter were available from Tiffany Studios. The earlier was a portrayal of single peonies with mostly open blossoms and was introduced prior to 1906 and continued in production for about 14 years. The word 'elaborate' in describing the 1913 design actually refers to the fact that the blossoms were doubles rather than singles. The elaborate peony has 1038 pieces of glass, while the single peony shade has 822 pieces. I liked this design well enough that once I've finished the shade I'm working on presently, I will do another of the elaborate peony. In fact, I am in the process of choosing the glass now.
Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass in Connelsville, Pa produces some of the finest art glass available in the world. We have traveled there a number of times to purchase glass. They recently came out with a new glass called Circa 1900, so called because of how close it is to some the finest Tiffany glass produced at the turn of the century. I must say that I love working with this glass! It can be hard to come by, so I have been stocking up a bit and intend to also make use of it in the next elaborate peony. My goal in the shade pictured, was to give a sense of impressionism to the peony garden being portrayed. The background and the foliage are circa 1900 and I purposely chose both in mottled tones of greens, the foliage having a bit of a yellow hue with occasional and subtle touches of pink. The blossoms are from a Youghiogheny Reproduction art glass and I like the way the background and the foliage glass help draw attention to the blossoms. The border in this shade was a real hassle... I just couldn't come up with anything that I felt worked well, and actually recut a goodly portion of the border in eleven different glasses. I finally discovered an old sheet of Chicago Art Glass herringbone in my glass racks that I had found on a visit there some years ago. It contained most of the hues that exist in this lamp shade and worked out quite well. My inspiration for the blossoms came from a photo of one of the new intersectional peonies called Cora Louise. While the shades of Cora Louise are more lavender pink, I was able to learn a lot from studying the shading in the petals.
I used to have many peonies in the gardens- perhaps a couple hundred. I gave almost all of them away because I hate staking plants. Those huge double blooms would fall over the minute it rained, and one thing is for certain... even in the drought of the century, it will rain when the peonies and bearded iris first fully open their blooms! I decided to start growing more singles including the ones pictured here. I actually divided and moved most of these to a sunnier spot last fall. I also chose varieties that are supposed to stay shorter. Apparently our rich pasture soil causes that idea to 'flop' as well. Peonies simply get too tall here, hence my affair with tree peonies. I'm not going to discuss them just now, but I will say... they stand up to the rain with their woody trunks... they are actually a shrub. With my concerns for blossoms lying in the dirt, I decided to pursue something new this past summer. I purchased five large specimens of the relatively new intersectional peonies. My friends who grow them just rave about them! The intersectional hybrid peony is a cross between tree and herbaceous peonies and hardy in zones
4 – 8. Like an herbaceous peony, and unlike the tree peonies, they get cut back close to the ground in the fall. Blossoms can approach a 6" diameter and the plants range in height from a couple feet to almost 4' tall. The blossoms remind me much more of the tree peony than herbaceous peonies. I can't share photos at this point because I purchased mine after last spring's bloom as containerized plants, but the colors are very special and they have excellent fragrance. They are also known as Itoh hybrids- do shop around as they can be very expensive.
Another fairly rare peony that I am willing to stake, is the lavender pink bloom with a silver picotee pictured here. This is Tinka Phillips and was hybridized locally in the 50's. Jess Phillips was the hybridizer and named it after his daughter. It sold for well over $100 in the 50's, and we enjoy its large blooms every year!
One final thought... I've included a photo of my small specimen of the fern leaf peony. If you've ever shopped for one of these, you know that they are often priced at over $50 for a 3 eye root. I used to have many more, but as the gardens got shadier, with trees maturing and they literally got shaded out over time. Thankfully, my original benefactor gave me a new start and I keep a close eye on this one... plenty of sun, etc. I would have to say that this plant has one of the finest reds in the plant kingdom. I have to tell you a sad story. My friend is in her mid to late 80's and she was the proud owner of an extensive border of the fern peonies. It came from a great many years of dividing the plants. It would be hard
to estimate their financial worth, but let's just say it would be significant! Her son raises asparagus near those peonies, and a couple years ago, he decided to "salt the asparagus" which I presume kills unwanted weeds. You guessed it... it also killed all those marvelous fern leaf peonies. This was indeed a tragedy, for the plants represented a life-time of gardening... I'll be lucky to have two or three fern leaf peonies by the time I leave this earthly home, but I do look forward to something far more exciting....
Take care... Larry
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét