Touch me gently.
A very beautiful flower, the Festiva Maxima, is almost pure white when fully open with traces of magenta/red at the centre. The petals are thin and fragile and should therefore be handled gently. There is a commonly believed myth that peony flowers need ants to eat up the sticky coating in order to open and that is cited as the reason why cut buds often don't open. In fact while peonies offer the ants healthy dinners they don't need their help. When their buds reach the "Marshmallow" stage, like this bud will in a day or so, still firm on the outside but soft to the touch like marshmallow, they will open whether cut and put in a vase, or wrapped in moistened paper and kept in the fridge - one way to have cut peonies late into July.
Touch me gently.
A very beautiful flower, the Festiva Maxima, is almost pure white when fully open with traces of magenta/red at the centre. The petals are thin and fragile and should therefore be handled gently. There is a commonly believed myth that peony flowers need ants to eat up the sticky coating in order to open and that is cited as the reason why cut buds often don't open. In fact while peonies offer the ants healthy dinners they don't need their help. When their buds reach the "Marshmallow" stage, like this bud will in a day or so, still firm on the outside but soft to the touch like marshmallow, they will open whether cut and put in a vase, or wrapped in moistened paper and kept in the fridge - one way to have cut peonies late into July.