Friday 9 May 2014

Feature Flower - Perfectly Plumptious Peonies

Hello!

We thought it was about time that we brought you a new feature flower and we have chosen to tell you all about the beautiful blowsy Peony.  This really popular flower is a firm favourite with our brides and is just about coming into season at the moment.  As you know here at Campbell's we like to use flowers that are in season as they look better and last longer so you will probably be seeing a lot of them over the coming weeks, not that we are complaining.











So, always keen to share flowery stories with our readers, we did a bit of research and found out that the Peony is named after Peaon who was a student of Asclepius the greek god of medicine and healing. The story goes that Asclepius became very jealous of his pupil and so Zeus saved Peaon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into a Peony.  In China, where the flower originated, it is known as Sho-Yo "most beautiful" and is considered and emblem of wealth.





But my personal favourite tale is that the Peony emanated from the moon and its glossy seeds shine through the night to protect from nightmares and other nasty things that go bump in the night.  Also with there being so many petals in the flower it was said that it was a great hide out for fairies!



When you think of peonies you generally would think of them being in the palest of pinks, but they are equally gorgeous in white, cream, lemon, coral, burgundy and hot pink - to name but a few! They've become incredibly fashionable over the past few years which has meant that lots of brides want them out of season. For florists, they can be a little tempermental and when sold out of season they come in very tight buds which can take absolutely ages to open, sometimes not behaving themselves and opening fully in time. Another really good reason why we always recommend buying them in season!





So with an offering of protection, beauty and wealth this stunning bloom is a lovely addition to your wedding flowers.  We do love a flower with a back story and we hope you do too!

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Thanks for reading
Amy xx

Photo credit: Niel Stewart Photography