The month of May is almost gone.  The lilacs are finished blooming, as are most daffodils and  tulips.  Iris take the stage now, and the peonies are waiting in the wings, to dance for May 30, which used to be known as “Decoration Day.”  Now we call it “Memorial Day” and we celebrate it on the last Monday in May.  It’s a day to remember and honor the dead, especially the soldiers who died in defending the country. Aunt Emma always wanted to decorate the graves of her ancestors with peonies.

When we first moved here about four years ago, there were several peonies in the back yard along the chain link fence.  I thought they deserved a more prominent position, so I dug them up and moved them to the front garden. For the next years, they looked tiny and didn’t really bloom.  Last fall, I thought maybe they should be moved, as they seemed lost in among the dayliies, but decided to wait until this season. This year, they are covered with buds and the bushes stand more than two feet tall.  I’m glad I didn’t move them.  There were originally about three of them in the back yard, but they have multiplied to at least ten!  Meanwhile in the back yard, a few came up each year.  Last year, when we made the new fence, I had someone come with a machine to dig out the old stumps, weeds and vines that had been covering the chain link.  I was certain that there would be no more peonies back there, but this year, another peony bush is back there, slender, but standing tall.  In a few more years, maybe that will multiply also.  Apparently the roots are deep and they don’t give up.

Across the alley behind our house a woman lives in the house her grandparents lived in.  She said that, about 80 years ago, her grandmother received  more peonies than she wanted, so she shared them with her neighbors.  My plants were some of those. These plants are older than I am, and will probably outlive me.  They’ve endured some cold cold winters, and some hot hot summers, overly wet seasons, droughts, competing weedy plants around them,  and I imagine, some carefully planted companions, uprooting and transplanting, and they were not always in the best of soil.  Nevertheless, they have bloomed, and continue to bloom, year after year, recovering after each hardship.    Strong, secure, and persistent, qualities for us all.