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THE BERNARDS-RIDGE CONNECTION
APRIL/MAY 2016
PEONY’S ENVY FLOWER FARM 34 Autumn Hill Drive Bernardsville Kathleen Gagan Kathleen Gagan, owner of Peony’s Envy Flower Farm, invites you to her garden for 6 weeks in the spring, typically May 1 through June 15. Peony’s Envy opens to the pub- lic as a way to share the love of this beautiful heirloom flower. Remem- ber when you were a child and your grandmother had peonies in her gar- den? Remember the ants? Remem- ber the fragrance? Remember the sweeter times? Relive that and more at this local treasure. The gardens have 50,000 plants cut through with trails that meander through 6 acres of peonies. There are gardens that feature woodland peonies, an unusual species of peony that grows in the shade. There are gardens of tree peonies, a truly majestic plant revered throughout Asia and Europe for centuries before finding its way to the American Garden. Kathleen’s tree peony garden features a rare collection of Gansu Tree peonies from the Gansu region of China. These are Kathleen’s favorite and feature dinner plate sized flowers on a hard-wood shrub that can reach twelve feet tall. There are also gar- dens featuring Japanese, Chinese, and American tree peonies with flowers that range from snow white to deep merlot, from the softest cream to the brightest canary yellow. The herbaceous gardens are exten- sive and cover three acres of the property. They include 700 herba- ceous cultivars. These are the flowers that your grandmother probably grew. This part of the garden includes over 120 raised beds, each bed planted as a vignette featuring from 1 to 10 distinct kinds of peonies. This feature was designed to help you discover not only what you like but actually take home your favorite cultivars from our nursery and plant your perfect peony garden. The gardens are spectacular and peo- ple come from all over the world to see them, a treasure in your own backyard. There are several distinct peaks. The 50,000 plants don’t all bloom at once, they have a sequence that varies with the weather. We sug- gest that you sign up online for our email blasts to keep up to date on what is in bloom. If you are curious about woodland peonies the best time to come is early in the season, this bloom is followed by the tree peony bloom, followed by the herba- ceous bloom, followed by a new kind of peony known as intersectional or itoh peony (a hybrid that crosses a tree peony with an herbaceous peony). More information on the bloom sequence can also be found on our website. We hope to see you in the gardens 34 Autumn Hill Drive, Bernardsville, NJ 07928 The 5 most important things you should know about growing peonies in your garden: 1. Deer don’t eat them 2. Peonies live for centuries 3. The flowers can be cut while in bud and stored in the fridge for weeks or even months 4. If you want peonies in your wed- ding plan to get married in May or June 5. The peony flower does not need ants to open, but don’t tell that to your grandmother. A Secret Garden - A Hidden Treasure - A Peony Wonderland. ! " # !"# !"# ! " # $ $ %& "' ! $ % $ #& ! " # !"# !"# ! " # $ $ %& "' ! $ % $ #& heritageinvestmentpartners.com www.theconnectionsnj.com