I met Bill many years ago and had the opportunity to visit his gardens once again today after many years of absence. Talk to people who really know and appreciate peonies in this corner of the world, and Bill's name is likely to come up. My wife and myself, and our gardening friends Vonnie and Tom, met at Bill's gardens this afternoon and spent a few extremely enjoyable hours. We were about a week early for many of the tree peonies to be in bloom, but those that were open were spectacular! I'm not sure how many peonies Bill has, but I would guess the number to be in the hundreds. The particularly interesting thing is that many of them, herbaceous and tree peonies alike, have been bred by Bill. The breadth of his knowledge and his humble spirit amaze! Bill was kind enough to give a us a lesson in the hybridization process... which from start to completion in terms of a blooming tree peony can take years! Since I am not always a patient soul, I decided to skip the pollenating part and purchased seeds from Bill's efforts... this can in fact save me a year and I'll hope for blooms in five years or less if all goes well! Many of the peonies open today were lavenders and pinks... some of the plants were six feet tall and as much as ten feet in diameter. I hope you will enjoy seeing some of these magnificent blooms from Bill's garden... I am once again hooked on these spectacular plants that easily live a hundred years and actually much longer. Bill mentioned that when canals were being built in China through an area where ancient tree peonies were growing, some were found to be rooted twelve feet into the ground. Tree peonies are not only an investment in one's life, but in the lives of the great-grandchildren! Enjoy some of the photos I took this afternoon... and a special thanks to Bill for his wonderful hospitality....
 |
| Bill combines many wonderful conifers with his tree peonies |
 |
| The next time I find a reversion on an Alberta spruce, I'm going to think twice before removing it... this is a real conversation piece! |
 |
| Bill with one of his amazing creations |
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét