Extended Peony blooming season!
Your peony is a true beauty when in full bloom but it is not long enough! At Pivoines Capano, blooming season lasts for more than seven weeks. And there is more ways to extend the pleasure than just admiring them in the garden.... Have you ever think to all the uses of peony flowers? Have a look at our sections below!
This picture illustrated peony flower parts. 
This flower is only an example. It is a simple flower form peony. Peonies can have flowers of different forms: simple, semi-double, double, bomb type or Japanese. Simple flower form : flower with one or two rows of petals and a well visible stamens center.
Double flower form: Flower completely covered with petals. In general, the center of stamens has disappeared being transformed in petals. Sometimes, the double flowers may still have some useable carpels hidden by the numerous petals.
You can stretch the flowering period of your peony gardens up to seven weeks in selecting cultivars/species with different blooming time. All peonies don't bloom at the same time. Some botanical species as P. tenuifolia and P. Mlokosewitschii bloom very early in the season whereas others, can bloom one month later. Generally, peony catalogues and nurseries use a code to give you an indication of the blooming time:very early, early, mid-season and late season. In order to clarify this, I suggest you a wonderful tool. This is a brand new blooming calendar produced by members from the Canadian Peony Society. Using these data, you can select peonies from different blooming period in a way to obtain almost 7 weeks of blooms. For more details, look at the whole calendar at http://bloomdate.paeonia.com/. The number that appears in the parenthesis indicates the number of days that this peony bloom in comparaison of the peony Red Charm, who serves as the stallion with 0 as the blooming period. It is important to note that for some peonies, particularly the intersectional hybrids, blooming period is longer and stretch from midseason to late season. Use this list when selecting your next purchases of peonies and buy those that will bloom at different periods than the ones you already grow.
PEONIES AS SPECIALTY CUT FLOWERS For more than a century, peonies have been cultivated for their magnificent fragrant flowers. The qualities of peony as fresh flowers are highly prized by florists: long vase life (twice as roses), long stems, beautiful and large flowers and capacity to keep well in cold storage. Be creative and use them in your floral arrangements for any occasions. For this use, I will recommand that you to select fragrant peonies with long stems like Red Charm, Miss America, Charlies White, Myrtle Gentry, Sarah Bernardht, Golly.
Peony flowers will bloom in your house during more than a week. Keeping them in cool weather will extend their vase life. HARVESTING THE FLOWERS : Peony flowers collect early in the morning has a longer life in vase, so cut the floral buds early the morning. All your cutting tools should be well sharpened in order to do clean cut and not crushing the stems. Crushed stems restrict the passage of water into the stems and reduce the vase life. It is highly recommended to wait at least three or four years after plantation before taking the first flowers. This will allow your peony to develop sufficient roots energy to support the loss of a part of its foliage. Do not cut more than half of the flowers on a mature plant. Cut the flowers at the stage of advanced floral bud i.e. when you start to see the color of the petals and when the bud looks like a big marshmallow.
PREPARING THE FLOWERS: First, all the tools and the vase should be perfectly clean and disinfected. Eliminate leaves and foliage that could be under water. Recut the stem under water. Why under water? Small air bubbles in water can block the tiny capillary of the stems and restrict the uptake of water. Do not crush the stems, do clean cut. Add clean water and change it every day. FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS There is no limits in the uses of peonies in floral arrangements...Peony flowers offer lots of possibilities, look at the following ideas.
For more than a century, peonies has been used for their magnificent cut flowers, always in demand with florists and wedding brides. But peonies are also edible flowers and we are just starting to discover this well preserved secret in our kitchen. Petals can be used to decorate special meals or for particular occasions but they can also be transformed into delightfull agroalimentary products. Mano Capano, owner of Pivoines Capano et Diane Tremblay, great chef and owner of << le Privilège Restaurant >>(4 diamants au AAA) has been collaboring for the last three years to develop new alimentary products with the uses of peony flowers. Passionnate about peonies and passionate for great cuisine....what a creative team! The first product: a peony vinegar! (vinaigre de pivoines). This unique vinegar is now an essential ingredient of the exceptional meals served to <<Le Privilège restaurant>>. You can buy it directly in contacting the chef Diane Tremblay <<Le Privilège>> by e-mail or, come and taste it at her restaurant for a unique culinary experience! The peony vinegar is also available at a charming coffee shop <<Passion Café>> located in Chicoutimi. Take a good Cappucino and say Hello to Myriam Martel, the owner of the boutique.
And if you want to experiment peony flowers in your kitchen, below are important facts to consider in using peony flowers in your plates and meals: . Always, harvest or buy peony flowers that have not be treated with pesticides or chemicals products. Do not hesitate to ask the question to your producer. . The flower has to be perfect: no stain, perfectly fresh, no brown spots. If not, you can produce a repulsive feeling rather than a decorative effect.... . Having flowers in our plates is for most of us a brand new experiment...so be careful at the beginning and do not cover the entire plate with flowers. Just put one or two to give the special effect. Bon appetit!
It is easy to eliminate ants on flower buds without any chemical products. Simply, spread a soapy water jet on top of it in a way to remove the sweety liquid that appears on the flower buds. That's it!
Finally, another way to stretch the pleasure of your peony garden is to dry peony flowers. First, harvesting! It is necessary to pick them as soon as they start to bloom hardly to avoid the falling of petals when drying. Then the drying process! Peonies can be air dry or by using a dessicant like silica gel. Air drying is easy. However, the volume of the flower will decrease. First, you need to remove leaves at the base of the stem. Then, dry the flowers by suspending them, head below in a warm and dark place. Another way to do it is by using a dessicant like silica gel for a spectacular effect! This process allows the flower to keep its size and natural shape but it is more expensive and time and space demanding. Cut the flowers at the stage of advanced floral bud i.e. when you begin to see the color of the petals and keep about 10 cm of stem. Spread a layer of silica gel on the bottom of a plastic container. Place peony flowers delicately in this container in a way that they don't touch each other. Fill in all the spaces between the petals with silica gel and cover completely with it. Close tightly the container and place it in a dry and dark location for two weeks. Once dried, delicately withdraw the flowers from the container while shaking mildly to remove the silica gel. You are now ready to make your floral arrangements! Your silica gel is reusable for another drying session.There are many excellent books on this subject in the librairies. Look at them because the results are extraordinary! For sure, you will pick very interesting decoration ideas to do with your dried peonies.
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