Martha Stewart’s Peony Party: Blooming Through Changing Seasons
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
June 8, 2009
Dearest garden reader,
On this day, the elegant and ever-inspiring Martha Stewart welcomed the blooming of her cherished peonies—a moment so celebrated it became the heart of an annual tradition affectionately called the “peony party.”
As she shares in her book Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations (2011), this gathering was scheduled to coincide with what she hoped would be the peak bloom of hundreds of peony plants. It is a joyful ritual that honors both flower and friendship, a living celebration of spring’s most sumptuous blossoms.
Yet Martha’s reflections reveal a garden truth that resonates with many these days: the exquisite choreography of bloom times is no longer predictable.
“Global warming,” she notes, “has played havoc with such ‘schedules’ and it is now almost impossible to judge accurately when a plant is going to bloom.”
Indeed, her peonies have danced to varying tunes in recent years—blooming on June 8 two years ago, May 28 last year, and closer to May 20 this past year. Such shifts invite gardeners to embrace flexibility and delight in change.
In response, Martha is pursuing new peony varieties with extended blooming periods, seeking early, midseason, and late bloomers to stretch the celebration and keep the party alive longer. This approach is a lovely example of resilience and adaptation, a gardener’s answer to the unpredictability of nature’s rhythms.
Have you noticed shifts in your own garden, dear reader?
How do you adjust your plans when blossoms arrive early or late, when the seasons stretch or shrink like bending shadows?
What new varieties or gardening practices have added joy and steadiness to your ever-evolving garden story?
Martha’s peony party reminds us all that gardening is a dance with nature’s changing tempo—a celebration not only of bloom but of patience and persistence.
Explore Martha Stewart’s inspiring approach and celebrations here: Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations.
May your garden parties bloom eternal, despite the shifting winds of change.
