Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono

I am still amazed at the smell of this Lady, "Peony blossoms and vanilla orchid". Although, like yesterday's linden blossom, the peony blossoms in June rather than March, this scent is very much a spring scent. It brings the same kind of lightness. And to think I once inherited a peony with the house we bought, how could I have missed this magical scent? But perhaps the Dutch 'boerenpioen' (farmer's peony) does not have the same scent as the many Chinese varieties. There are many Chinese peony species I found, which may be why most oriental peony paintings I found were Chinese and only a few Japanese.

It looked much like this, the peony that came with our house before this one. It was very large and when we moved I took part of the roots with me to our new garden. But apparently it preferred its original spot, where it had grown larger each year. It never grew at its new spot. (And I wonder if it is still there where I left it, the new owners of the house were the kind that lay pavement and place pots on it.)  I think I'll try again, with a new peony that has not yet attached itself to a spot to grow. My plum tree might like the company of a peony.

But lets not forget the other half of the scent's description: Vanilla Orchid. It won't even be possible to grow vanilla in my garden, but I can enjoy its image.

My other entry about Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono.