Photo of the Week: Tree Peonies in Bloom

deep magenta peony blooms against green leaves

With the warm weather over the past couple weeks in southeast Michigan, our gardens are filled with color from mid-to-late spring flowers, including gorgeous deep purple lilacs, brilliant orange poppies, and the soft pink of crabapple flowers.

One of my favorite spring flowers in bloom is the peony, and there’s no better place to view the wide variety of peonies than at the Peony Garden at the Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

People throughout Michigan and beyond travel to the almost 100-year-old Peony Garden to stroll through the 27 beds of the 200+ varieties of herbaceous peonies.

Tree Peonies

And while many people plan a trip to the garden to see herbaceous peonies in late spring, I love taking a tour a few weeks earlier, when the tree peonies are in bloom.  Continue reading Photo of the Week: Tree Peonies in Bloom

Photo of the Week: Icy Spring Wonderland

ice encases the buds and stems of the Potentilla bush.

It wasn’t the normal pitter-patter of spring rain that woke me up this morning. Rather it was a crackling sound, the sound of freezing rain falling against the bedroom window. When I looked outside, I saw the rain had encased the buds, stems, and everything else in a clear, shimmering sheet of ice. And while… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Icy Spring Wonderland