By Lindsey Cole
The Oshawa Express
When some people think of peonies, they envision the big, old-fashioned peonies that grew in grandma’s garden.
This is how Horticultural Consultant Ken Brown describes some peonies. But he told members of the media, politicians and those involved with the 6th Annual Peony Festival, that these flowers carry with them so much more.
The Oshawa Valley Botancial Gardens will be featuring more than 300 peony plants in bloom during the festival, which runs June 12 and 13.
“It will be bigger and better. Let’s look forward to the exciting activities and displays,” says Mayor John Gray.
“Flowers are important parts of celebrations in our lives.”
This year the festival will play host to the Canadian Peony Society’s 13th annual show and meeting.
But the question on most gardeners’ minds is will these gorgeous flowers still be in bloom?
According to Judi Denny, the show and AGM coordinator, the flowers are two to three weeks ahead of schedule because of the uncharacteristically warm weather for this time of year.
But she says there will still be plenty of flowers to go around. And she would know, considering she has more than 600 plants in her own garden.
“Probably three-quarters of them are quite small plants,” she says.
And even if some aren’t in bloom outside in the gardens, inside the Children’s Arena, at 155 Arena Street, there will be a space full of peony blooms.
Close to 1,000 booms will be featured, all displayed in classes and sorted by type and colour.
“Inside the arena we’ll still be alive. We’re taking over the whole arena,” she says.
“Do come, it will be a fabulous show.”
There is also a flower competition open to anyone. If you have a single peony plant in your garden, bring in the best bloom and members of the Peony Society will show you how and where to enter it.
In addition to the plants and the arena blooms, there is also two days of presentations by peony experts. There will be demonstrations on peony grafting, digging and dividing peonies and examples of how to use peonies as featured landscape plants.
The festival is free of charge.
The Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens incorporates a series of gardens linked by parkland and the Oshawa Creek Trail system.
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