The Bloom Blog

Today we bring you the first installment of a new series of blog posts we are calling Capon’s “Bloom Blog.”  Here 3rd generation Capon family member and Grounds Manager, Ginny Brill, will share tips, tricks and information about Capon’s flowering plants.  Take it away, Ginny!

Capon has been a part of my life from as far back as I can remember and one of the greatest gifts Capon has given me is the chance to discover how much I love “playing in the dirt.” Call me crazy, but I like to weed!  Very often the grounds crew and I get questions about what’s growing here. With this blog, I will try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions as well as share behind-the-scenes “stories” of the beautiful blooms that decorate these grounds.

The name of one of the largest blooms you will see around the grounds is often pronounced differently:  “pee-a-nee”, “pee- OH-nee”, “pie-nee”…   no matter how you say it, it is one of my favorites!

• They are easy to grow. Very little pest or disease problems.
• Makes a wonderful cut flower
• Beautiful planted all by itself or in a grouping.
• Easy to transplant and divide once it becomes established. Most of the traditional garden peonies growing around the grounds have been here for over 40 years.
• They have a wonderful fragrance!

Most people are familiar with the traditional variety known as an herbaceous peony(pictured above); it dies back in the winter and sends up new shoots from ground level in the spring. At Capon, this variety, with its flowers in colors from white to deep magenta, usually blooms around Memorial Day.

Blooming earlier in the spring is another variety: the tree peony (pictured above).  This variety is named appropriately:  it resembles a woody shrub, dropping its leaves in the cold weather, leaving its branches empty until early spring when large leaf buds and finally flower buds emerge. Blooming earlier than the traditional peony, its blooms are show-stoppers. We get asked many times over: What is that flower blooming in the garden around the tennis court? This variety is a little trickier to grow, is more particular about its soil conditions (well drained), amount of sun (partial), etc.… but if you find the right spot for it, it will grow happily for many years with few problems.

Also in that garden (and in the garden across from the lower parking lot) is a third variety of peony known as an Itoh or intersectional peony (pictured above). It is named after the biologist who finally, after many years, was able to “create” a hybrid of the herbaceous peony and the tree peony.  The leaves of the Itoh resemble the tree peony, but its growth is like the herbaceous peon; it too dies completely back in the winter.  Tree peonies come in a wide range of colors, a characteristic the Itoh also shares.  Capon’s Itohs are a buttery yellow, with the wider “flatter” flower shape of the tree peony but sharing bloom-time with the traditional garden variety. I planted the first yellow Itoh in the lower garden in honor of my Aunt Lyn – Carolyn, Beth, Tom and Robin’s mother. That garden was re-created many years ago in memory of her mother who loved yellow. Over time, most of the yellow flowers were replaced by blooms of many colors. I wanted a special yellow plant to remember both Aunt Lyn and her mom. And that’s the reason behind why we have the less-known Itoh peony in Capon’s gardens.