These Roses Bloom Too Early This Year
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
May 23, 2019 2:30pm CST
If you knew the German name of this flower, you'd understand the title. The English name for the depicted flower is 'peony'. Yet, in German, it is called Pfingstrose = Whitsun (BE)/ Pentecost(AE) Rose. Not surprisingly, this name comes from the fact that it blooms around the time of this Christian holiday. ‘Around’ is the important word here. The peonies are in full bloom at the moment, yet Whitsun is only on June 9th this year
If you know nothing about Christian holidays, you may want to know when Whitsun/Pentecost is. Hmm, difficult to answer without consulting a calendar. Even if you know Christian holidays, you can't answer this offhand. Whitsun/Pentecost Sunday is always 49 days after Easter Sunday. But when is Easter Sunday? Let me puzzle you further (from Wikipedia): "In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox. Easter is delayed by 1 week if the full moon is on Sunday, which decreases the chances of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover."
Whatever! Sometimes nature and calendar are in harmony. This year this is not the case. The flowers always have the same rhythm, yet Whitsun/Pentecost Sunday is relatively late this year, namely on June 9th. Then the peonies will already have wilted. Unfortunately, they bloom only once a year and not several times like real roses. So we have to enjoy them when they bloom. We have two red and one pink bush in the front garden. There are also white, yellow and violet peonies, but I like the pink and red ones best.
As is the case with the other plants and flowers we have in our house and garden, nobody does anything for them. Yet they flourish and prosper nevertheless. I can’t say for how long they have done that already. When we moved into the house 45 years ago, the peonies were already there and they were certainly not new. The house is about 125 years old. They may not be that old but certainly already ancient - and still going strong.
----
Photo: pixabay
15 people like this
16 responses
@LindaOHio (156276)
• United States
23 May 19
Peonies are the ones that attract all the ants, don't they. We used to have some.
2 people like this
@1creekgirl (40529)
• United States
23 May 19
Yes, they do sometimes have a lot of ants in them, but they're so pretty and smell so good.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (156276)
• United States
23 May 19
@1creekgirl Yes, they're beautiful. I'll have to look up why peonies have ants.
1 person likes this
@just4him (306354)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
23 May 19
Thank you for that information. I knew peonies were some of the first flowers to bloom in spring, but I didn't know when. I usually know when Pentecost is and knew it is coming soon, but not the exact date, so I thank you for that information as well.
I love peonies and tried to grow them. However, my neighbor kept mowing them down when he mowed our lawn. Not that they would have grown otherwise. I have a decidedly black thumb. The only plants I'm managed not to kill are the indoor plants.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
24 May 19
@Fleura Thank you! I've also found a very long site with loads of peony varieties. I thought of adding the link here but then didn't do it. I should have done it.
Find images of Peony. ? Free for commercial use ? No attribution required ? High quality images.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
23 May 19
Oh, no, this has nothing to do with climate change. Easter can be between 22nd March and 25th April. Whitsun/Pentecost is 49 days later. The peonies follow an inner calender so-to-speak and bloom at the same time of year more-or-less. In some years their blooming time is near Easter, in others it is near Whitsun/Pentecost.
2 people like this
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
25 May 19
I am very familiar with rose. I thought at a first glance the flower is a red rose. And it is not but it resembles to a rose. Peony and rose, are they related?
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
25 May 19
@Nakitakona A peony has no thorns and no sharp prickles. It is not a rose but a different plant.
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (56302)
• Philippines
25 May 19
@MALUSE Thanks for it's confusing. One thing I could determine that it's a rose because it's thorny or has sharp prickles on its stems.
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
24 May 19
What a beautiful peony ! Over here peonies normally blossom in early April.Their root bark is commonly used Traditional Chinese Medicine.
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
25 May 19
Easter was late this year thus Pentecost is late, I love peonies I have two beautiful ones in my yard they are not in bloom yet.
@LadyDuck (458233)
• Switzerland
24 May 19
I love pink peonies, they are thought plants that resist well here in Switzerland. My lilies-of-the-valley had a perfect timing this year, they were in bloom by May 1st (to wish Good Luck), last year they bloomed two weeks in advance. All my roses are in bloom except the red roses. It has been a cold month of May here, we started planting outside this week.
@1creekgirl (40529)
• United States
23 May 19
Those are beautiful. We have white Peonies with pink streaks... they smell heavenly.
@Nevena83 (65282)
• Serbia
23 May 19
Yes, and we call it peony in Serbia.
And we have the famous Kosovo peony.
And we have the famous Kosovo peony.
@7mad7mad (19)
• Saudi Arabia
25 May 19
Aren't Peonies and whitsun are two names for same flower? therefore they bloom same time while in same place. I don't know much. (First paragraph)
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
23 May 19
The peonies might bloom for Whitsun here, not an early spring/summer this year.
I like them, the pink ones are most common here I think. That they chose not to follow the confusing Christian holidays is no wonder, the seasons can be confusing, but not that confusing.
