peonies (without irises!)

These peonies are SO much happier now that I've separated them from the irises I paired them with yesterday. Divas just to not play well together!  If these flowers don't look like peonies to you, it's because they are a very unusual variety. I first saw them at Pharsalia, a beautiful flower farm in Virginia, where the owner, Foxie Morgan, really didn't like them. I loved them for all the reasons she didn't--they're small, they look ragged, and they don't look like peonies! The prominence of their yellow/orange stamens makes them look more like casual wildflowers than stately peonies, and I like that.  I also love the greenish cast in their petals.