June 1, 2025 • 32 mins
The Peony flower has a long and storied history across time and geography. These show stopping beauties are a favorite flower for many, but play a special part of the love story of Trevor and Ellen! In this episode of Yard to Table they talk about the variety of peonies that are blooming across the gardens at Stonebrook right now, how they take care of them and why they mean so much.
The poem in this episode is called "A Peony Match" from the book "The Things it Takes to Bring The World Together" by Jesse Spray Crafts.
A great reference site for all things peony: American Peony Society
Questions? Ideas? Things you need to say? Message us!
Follow Yard to Table on Instagram at @yard_to_table_podcast 🌱🍽️ and see what’s happening with Ellen and Trevor by following @stonebrookhouse. And don't forget to follow, like and leave a review wherever you listen to the show! 💙
Questions? Ideas? Things you need to say? Message us!
Follow Yard to Table on Instagram at @yard_to_table_podcast 🌱🍽️ and see what’s happening with Ellen and Trevor by following @stonebrookhouse. And don't forget to follow, like and leave a review wherever you listen to the show! TY 💙
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trevor (00:00):
Ellen, well, hello, Ellen.
Ellen (00:16):
Well, hello there, Trevor
Trevor (00:17):
It's a very special day here at the table.
Ellen (00:21):
It is. Welcome everybody to another episode of yard to
table. And why is it special?
Trevor (00:28):
It's an anniversary episode. No, no, not a 10 year
anniversary of yard to table,but a 12 year anniversary for
you and I.
Ellen (00:38):
That's right.
Trevor (00:38):
It is our wedding anniversary.
Ellen (00:40):
June, 1,
Trevor (00:41):
officially today,
Ellen (00:43):
it's pretty amazing.
We've been together 14 years.
Married for 12. Well, that isalso correct. And why is that
important to you? Our dearlisteners?
Trevor (00:53):
Well, they like us, and I think they want to know all of
the details of our life. Well,maybe not all of them, but at
least some of them,
Ellen (01:01):
Ihope not all of them,
Trevor (01:02):
that'd be a lot.
Ellen (01:03):
That'd be a lot, but it's, it's our anniversary, and
our love story has a lot ofsynergy with a flower that's
blooming right now.
Trevor (01:15):
Ah, and that is the May apple.
Ellen (01:20):
No, it actually maybe ate a fruit at this point,
though,
Trevor (01:25):
that's true. So it's not them very happy cutting we're
cutting that one out entirely.
It is your favorite season ofall. Season.
Ellen (01:34):
It is,
Trevor (01:35):
it is Christmas, not quite yet. That is a favorite
season
Ellen (01:39):
I do, I do love very much. Yes,
Trevor (01:41):
it's Peony season. It's Peony season. That's right,
friends, yes.
As the tulips fade and the mockpeonies fade, we enter into
Ellen's other favorite season,which is Peony season, which was
very present at a wedding of acertain crafts and crafts
(02:02):
wedding situation
Ellen (02:03):
12 years ago. Yes, well, peonies have always been very
traditional for weddings. That'strue. It's a spring flower, late
spring flower. And obviously, aswe head into June, which is
wedding season, brides andfloral artists choose peonies
because they're a beautiful,gorgeous, show stopping end of
spring flower as you see themeverywhere in bridal bouquets,
(02:24):
and we had them at our wedding,we had the gorgeous coral Peony
that was in my bouquet. Ofcourse, it was very hot that
day, so they were literallyblooming.
Trevor (02:34):
They were exploding
Ellen (02:36):
100 degrees.
Trevor (02:37):
Why do you...is you like the peony outside of just
getting married to me, oh yes. Imean, I want to like about
getting married to me, but
Ellen (02:46):
your shirt today is reminiscent
Trevor (02:49):
coral shirt. Unplanned.
No one can see that, but that'sfine. Is there more? What is it
about the peony that you like somuch? I don't think I've ever
actually asked you. What is itabout the shape, the color, the
variety, what is it? Tell Tellme.
Ellen (03:02):
Well, there's so many varieties of peonies, of course.
And I think the thing that I wasmost drawn to was the one that I
saw the most often prior toliving here, for sure, and prior
to my research since. But it'sthe big round, just showstopper
flower with its frilly centersand beautiful petals. The smell
is so gorgeous. You also knowthat I'm very drawn to things
(03:24):
that are round
Trevor (03:25):
and happy
Ellen (03:25):
and happy,
Trevor (03:27):
and a pumpkin, bumblebees, snowmen, snowmen,
peonies.
Ellen (03:32):
Yes, I don't know. I have a thing. I don't know where
it comes from, but obviously thepeony starts out in this
beautiful little marshmallow.
We'll talk about that a littlebit, and then it just continues
to grow. But it's to grow. Butit's this bulbous riot of color
and joy. And you cannot look ata bouquet and not feel happy. It
is just joy in a vase or a bushor a tree, whatever it is. It
(03:53):
makes me happy.
Trevor (03:56):
It also works well for me later on, in case, I become
just round and happy later on,it'll also be in good stead.
Ellen (04:04):
I love you now forever, honey.
Trevor (04:05):
On this our wedding anniversary. That's right,
everybody out there is gonna belike, This is not the podcast
that we signed up for. I thoughtthis was a podcast about yards
and gardens and love casts.
Right now, this is a wholedifferent piece of business. One
of the things I think was somuch fun about this yard, yes,
that we are now inhabited yardof stone the yard of Stonebrook
(04:28):
is,
Ellen (04:30):
let's get it back to topic.
Trevor (04:32):
Thank you. I appreciate that there was so many peonies
here, and it's almost a sign. Itwas,
it wasn't almost a sign. It wasa sign.
Ellen (04:41):
It was
Trevor (04:42):
Il segno,
Ellen (04:43):
as as our story goes, you saw Stonebrook, and we're
like, Yes, and I saw Stonebrook,and I said, No, we live here.
Still a true story. Our lifecontinues. But one of the things
that once I really realized somuch of what was here rose and
rose. Of Peony beds, maturePeony beds. And we saw the
property in
Trevor (05:04):
March, February, early March, originally, early March.
Ellen (05:07):
Obviously, nothing blooming snow on the ground,
correct. But I walked alongthose hedgerows, and I think
there was a, there might havebeen an article about those in
like cottages and gardens,correct.
Trevor (05:17):
There was a Connecticut cottage and gardens article that
was done about stone Brook acouple years prior, or a year or
so prior,
Ellen (05:24):
right? So we got a glimpse of what, obviously, the
gardens could be, which was, butthe rows and rows of peonies
felt like Kismet fate.
Trevor (05:32):
I think the fun thing about a peony, especially these,
which are these long growing,very mature peonies, like you
said, is that a peony can growfor 100 years,
Ellen (05:42):
which is crazy nuts.
Trevor (05:46):
Those crowns can stay in the same bot, and they can
flower reliably for 100 years,which is so cool. And maybe
that's why it's a weddingflower. Was because you la it
can last and last and last, likewe have lasted and lasted and
lasted and lasted
Ellen (06:01):
and will continue to I mean, the history of the peony
also is so deep. There is somuch. Obviously, it goes back.
It was native to Asia, Europeand North America, but the deep
roots, as it were, good puns,good puns. It goes back to
Chinese culture, the peonyflower. You see so much of this
(06:21):
in symbolism. There's medicinesthat are made from peonies.
There is anti inflammatoryproperties that the peonies have
that's been used in Chinesemedicine. There's also another
way that they use it formedicine, that was for mood
enhancement. And I mean, I justlook at a peony and I feel
better.
Trevor (06:37):
You don't actually need to take anything. I don't you
just look. It's a visual moodenhancer. Yes, and you don't
want to, I mean, like eatinganything too much, you're gonna
get sick. That's true. They uselittle bits and doses these,
yes, specialty items that theymake.
Ellen (06:53):
They bring joy from looking at them and obviously
ingesting them. And you know,last year I had saved Peony
flower petals. That's right, wesaved all the petals last year
so I can bombs and so I couldmake salt salts. And it was
awesome smell. It's just sobeautiful. So
Trevor (07:08):
I think that's the fun part about you think when it's
done, it's done, but if driedproperly, all of the petals can
be saved and the fragrancelasts. The fragrance last and
the color lasts. Yes, that'swhat I was so surprised about.
Was still hot pink. Was theywere very, very bright. They
lost almost no color. And thenwhen they went into the scrubs
(07:29):
and other things that you madewith them, all that color
retained. It was amazing.
Ellen (07:32):
And the fragrance is just beyond we were walking to
the storage barn to do therecording, and we have to walk
through, I mean all literally onour property right now, all
Peonies are starting to just popand explode. And the smell, I
wish I could impart that to allof you over the
Trevor (07:48):
we have not figured that out yet. Smell-o-vision has not
Smell-a-listen!
Ellen (07:51):
smell-a-listen.
But I mean, oh my gosh,the aroma of these, the big
white, oh my goodness, they'rejust beautiful.
Trevor (07:59):
You Can't even really talk about it.
Ellen (08:01):
I get emotional.
Trevor (08:02):
It's really gorgeous outside. I love how you said we
had to walk through
Ellen (08:06):
we did they draw you in.
Trevor (08:09):
There was no option.
There were no choices.
Ellen (08:10):
It's ridiculous the amount of peonies that were here
on the property. And of course,we knew nothing. We did a lot of
research because we wanted tolearn about what varieties we
had on the property, we believethat at least some of these
peonies were planted by Alicedel Lamar, the original owner
and builder of stone Brook, andhave probably been supplemented
(08:31):
by the various owners throughoutthe years of this history of
this property. But most of thepeonies on our property are
herbaceous peonies, and we havetwo beds in the very back of the
house along the pool deck thatare the what we believe are the
John Van Leeuwen peony, which isthis long stemmed early bloomer,
(08:51):
which has this gorgeous yellowfrilly center. And the petals
are a pale pink or white, andthey just kind of cup that
frilly center. They're gorgeous.
We have two rows along thegarden path that lead to the
storage barn that are the sameflower. And we also have some of
these double white peonies thatare just gorgeous. But then we
have two upper tiers of thegarden that are full rows of
(09:14):
peonies, and I they're a mix ofwhite which I think may be
Festiva maxima peony. They haveflecks of red in the center and
the little red in the stem. Andthen we have these beautiful,
I'm pretty sure, both light anddeep, Sarah Bernhardt, which are
those gorgeous double peonies,which are in that fuchsia and
that pale pink. And they justombre. I know I get so excited
(09:37):
the ombre of the pink in thelight pink is just it's every
shade of light pink that youcould possibly imagine. It blows
my mind.
Trevor (09:48):
And that's not the only kind. We also have some tree we
don't have a lot, but we havesome tree peonies. Those are
like a total surprises, by theway, because for some reason,
they didn't really bloom when wefirst got here. Then all of a
sudden. And this woody theycalled Woody's, if you don't
know nobody, also known as thetree woodies, they just
exploded. These are probably ginJays. They're these bright
(10:12):
yellow, red, flecked, I mean,saucer sized,
Ellen (10:17):
There like a Bread plate.
Trevor (10:18):
They're gigantic.
Ellen (10:19):
They're gigantic.
Trevor (10:20):
They're almost too big.
It's almost too much,
Ellen (10:23):
well. And I think we think they're either jinjae or
the souvenir D Maxim Cornu,which I just love saying,
Trevor (10:32):
souvenir di Maxim Cornu,
Ellen (10:33):
oh, there's an accent.
Trevor (10:34):
It is French.
Ellen (10:35):
That's actually perfect.
That's very nice. But they're,they're just unusual because
they have a little yellow,little peach this tinging around
the frilly edges, they'regorgeous. And their stems are
very heavy.
Trevor (10:47):
Oh my gosh, these things are it's like a ball and chain.
They're so they need to besupported so well, because
they're so big and heavy, theyjust pop, topple over.
Ellen (10:57):
And I had read about planting them. Do you want to
put them somewhere high, becausethe blooms tend to bend down
because of the weight of them.
Ours are sort of tucked awaybehind one of the boxwood x's.
So it's like, they're our firstbloomers. Every year they're the
first ones to come out, exceptthat first year, except that
first year. We're like, we haveno idea what this plant is. And
now we have four of them thatare just absolute show stoppers.
(11:19):
And we have this beautiful vasethat we bought from this
incredible local Potter teamcalled clay story in Connecticut
that actually worked perfectlyfor the flowers this year,
because you could cut very shortstems. I could put four of them
in this vase, and they justcreated this mound of color. And
the vase supported the topsreally well, because otherwise,
(11:42):
I've seen people cut them prettymuch right under the flower and
put them in like a bowl ofwater, yeah, like a very
shallow, shallow dish, exactly.
They're very beautiful that waytoo.
Trevor (11:52):
It's funny, because there's all the colors that we
have. Yes, I'm sure you knowthis, but maybe not everybody
knows this. There actually is noblue peony. It does not exist.
There is every other shade,creams and yellows and your
favorite, corals, even purples.
But there really isn't a bluepeony.
Ellen (12:12):
Now, listeners, if you know of a blue peony, if we're
wrong, I which I don't
Trevor (12:16):
think I'm I think we're, do you feel pretty confident
looking because I was thinkingabout our stone Brook blue,
yeah, in a way that we couldsort of interconnect that with
stone Brook blue. There is not atrue blue peony,
Ellen (12:27):
no, not that I'm aware of. And the colors are so
beautifully pale. There's likethat gorgeous pastel II grouping
of different colors, so they'resuper intense, yes, and you
know, you've got the reds andthe corals and the whites. It's
they're the hot, beautiful. I'mdrawn to the more bold colors.
As you know,
Trevor (12:47):
Are you? Yes, I am very 12 years together. I'm just
finding out that you like bold,big colors. If you could have a
nine foot picture of a paintingof a peony up close, Peony
anywhere you would, yes, itlooks great.
Ellen (13:01):
I had this wonderful wood cut print that I just got
of a peony too, right? That Ihave to get framed because I do.
I know my addiction is picturesof flowers.
Trevor (13:10):
It runs very, very deep.
Ellen (13:13):
I love it so much.
Trevor (13:14):
And I think one of the fun things we've mentioned in
our inaugural podcast for thisseason that we're working on our
scullery, and we're building awhole area for you to cut and to
store and to build and flowerfridge and all is that not quite
ready yet.
Ellen (13:30):
Now, unfortunately, quite ready yet. I know we're so
Trevor (13:35):
just we're not. I think it's gonna we're just gonna miss
it, but we might, yeah, I nevercan tell. Never can tell.
Ellen (13:40):
Yeah, we're not gonna.
It won't help us this year, butyear, but Care and Keeping of
peonies, and how you can extendyour Peony season is something
that we have done a lot ofresearch and continue to do. I
mean, peonies, and have done,Peonies are hardy for the most
part. I mean, they come back.
They're a perennial, which isand with their longevity, that's
an incredibly beautiful additionto your garden. That is. I mean,
(14:05):
there's maintenance. That's thepiece that they're easy to catch
for certain areas. Catch afungus. We have been very
vigilant, particularly thisyear, around applying copper
fungicide before they bloom,before they even come up from
the ground. When you start tosee this, those little tips
starting to come up with soil.
Little tips you want to startapplying every two weeks, copper
fungicide after it rains, orafter it rains,
Trevor (14:28):
because once it's gone, it's gone from the rain. That's
right, I will say that we havestruggled a lot over our years
here trying to control botryblight, trying to control
powdery mildew, powdery mildew,black spot. It's been a journey,
and I will knock on wood. I knowit feels that we've maybe turned
(14:49):
a corner?
Ellen (14:49):
away, I don't know. At least this season,
Trevor (14:51):
we've also had a lot of work where we haven't added a
lot of mulch. I think it's areally important season here. We
put a lot of unknown mulch intoour. Beds, and they don't like
all the peonies beds outside ofthe fact they don't like the
mulch, truly, we don't knowwhere it came from, that's
right. So it could have beenfull of a bunch of garbage. We
could have done it to ourselves,yes, but they don't like a lot
(15:12):
of mulch. They like dirt andjust plain open space, clean.
Clean gives a lot of ability tomove around a little bit more
and have air air circulation isfor all kinds of fungus, is
always super important to thatkind of airplay and air flow. So
you don't want anything toodensely packed. But it can get
tricky, because those crownsblooming year after year and
(15:33):
growing year after year, you canget a very dense group of
foliage.
Ellen (15:37):
The density is beautiful, but also because they
are so dense, and the stocks areso long and the flowers so
heavy, staking is criticallyimportant, super important. And
we've gone through some staking.
Trevor (15:51):
No, we and we do stake, and I'm not a huge
Ellen (15:54):
different trial and error methods we've had. I'm not
a huge
Trevor (15:57):
fan of our stakes, no, personally, I just don't think
they have enough robustness tothem.
Ellen (16:04):
You know, whose does, who? Oh, the grand arm of all
things garden. Ms, MarthaStewart,
Trevor (16:11):
yeah, those, Martha Stewart, those.
Ellen (16:13):
She posts those pictures,
Trevor (16:14):
those steaks. Oh, I'm not talking about the cow kind.
She has these double curly Qamazing stakes that have two
literal flip arounds, one in themid and one in the top. They've
got to be at their top four feettall. Five
Ellen (16:33):
She gives away no secrets. Not custom done.
Trevor (16:36):
They're custom done. And then they create this perfect
triangular pattern.
Ellen (16:42):
It's like a hexagon almost corrects, because they,
you stake them every I don'tknow foot really, I think it's,
it's maybe
Trevor (16:49):
six triangles make a hexagon.
Ellen (16:51):
That's right.
Trevor (16:51):
So triangular patterns,
Ellen (16:54):
I wasn't doubting you in any way. I was saying it how I
saw it, but they are marriagepeople, that's right. But there,
and the way that she, because ofthose lovely little double
loops, she gets that two prongssupport, and then the wire gets,
yeah, keep talking. Make itworse, criss crossed, and they
(17:16):
provide such beautiful support.
She's got a lot of peonies too,by the way,
Trevor (17:20):
yeah, we about no more shakes to Martha, but we have a
lot of peonies also
Ellen (17:26):
we do, but those steaks are Honey. Are you gonna
Trevor (17:29):
I should do the forge. I should, I should make them. I
need to make them because wecan't find them anywhere. We
can't they don't exist.
Commercially
Ellen (17:36):
bespoke Stonebrook Peony steaks,
Trevor (17:40):
they're not hard to do, that's what I've heard. But they
obviously, they take some effortand some forging and some
hammering and some things likethat. So that's all important
stuff, but I think we couldprobably get into it
Ellen (17:53):
if you're not into making your own bespoke Peony
stakes. There's a lot ofoptions. Some people do rings. I
think the staking is the best ifyou have a long row, especially
because that criss cross method,which is not as good as
Martha's, the one that we've gotgoing. Who's and who's are,
quite frankly, they provide thesupport that these big flowers
(18:16):
really need.
Trevor (18:16):
They really need the structure. They need the
support, right?
Ellen (18:19):
And you can split peonies in the fall. Dividing
can happen in the fall, but ifwe really talk about how you get
them from the beginning, you'reright. It's soil is always key.
Ensuring you have clean soil,organic soil. Obviously,
everything we do here isorganic, pesticide free. You
start immediately with thecopper fungicide. When you start
to see those tips coming out ofthe soil. Also do it again.
(18:41):
Reapply when it rains, but it'sabout every two weeks, and then
they start to come up, andthey're looking glorious, and
you start to see those buds onthere. Now for all of them, this
is always a very hard decisionthat I have to make, which is
removing buds. I have thatproblem with all flowers. We
know that when
Trevor (19:01):
it's almost sacrilegious, it's a real
violation,
Ellen (19:05):
like thinning radishes and carrots, it's like I just
the wasting of the thing, let itgrow. But with peonies, they are
heavy flower. And the Jan vanLewins that are in our path and
are in the back of the house,they are very strong stem that
they have. And the main floweris so big and beautiful, but
we'll get a lot of side buds,and they also can get pretty
(19:27):
big. Now, if you start to snapthose off as they grow, it
actually puts more strength andenergy into the main flower.
It's your choice. I'm notpushing you. You make your
decisions. But I've been trying,particularly with those flowers,
to get those little buds off theside as they're growing again,
it's up to you, no mulch. Andthen once you bloom, after that
season's done, you cut thoseoff. And then in the fall, we
(19:48):
cut them all the way down. I
Trevor (19:50):
I have a question, yeah, is it Jan, or is it Jan? Oh,
it's probably yawn. I wouldimagine it's yawn. I agree with
everything you said prior tothat, by the way, gotta be
Dutch, right?
Ellen (19:59):
Curious. Has to be to be a young John Van Lewin, yeah,
you're gonna do a Dutch accent.
Trevor (20:04):
No, I'm not
Ellen (20:05):
okay. Thank you. But I Is it just because you can't.
Trevor (20:08):
Wow, that's a real throwdown.
Ellen (20:16):
12 years. There it is.
Trevor (20:19):
Friends, wow, yeah.
Well, next episode, I will do anentirely Dutch accent. I
apologize from every top to thebottom. Apologize to everyone.
Will be amazing.
Ellen (20:31):
I apologize to everyone.
But here's the other fun buthere's the other fun part about
peonies, which, again, we just,I just started experimenting
with last year, and why I'm veryexcited for a flower fridge, but
you can do this with anyrefrigerator, really, that you
can keep them for up to threemonths, if you can cut during
the marshmallow stage.
Trevor (20:50):
Now, the critical part too early, and it's kind of
like, Oh, wait. Is it right now?
Is it? Is it next week? Is itnow? Is it some of this, like we
always say, requiresexperimentation
Ellen (21:00):
and constant watching, really, because you could not
have a marshmallow in themorning, and then at night, it
could turn into a marshmallow.
Well, what is a marshmallow?
Well, it's really when you startto see the color emerging in the
bud. And it's probably dependingon the variety, the size of a
ping pong ball, maybe a littlebit smaller, and it has a
(21:20):
squishy quality to it, so it'sreally has the feeling of
marshmallow texture.
Trevor (21:26):
And you definitely can see color. Yes, you have to see
color.
Ellen (21:29):
If it's hard, right? And it that color has not emerged,
then it's not a marshmallow. Butif you do see that, then you cut
the stem. I recommend kind oftaking the leaves off. So
stripping the leaves from thestem, you can wrap up those Some
people use. I hate usingplastic, because we're always
trying to reduce our single useplastics. You could probably
(21:50):
wrap up in floral paper, or youthrow them in the fridge, just
stack them on top of each otheras they are. And some say you
can keep them up to threemonths. All you do, if you want
to use them, bring them out ofthe fridge, obviously, recut
stems, hydrate them in water,bloom and they'll last for about
a week.
Trevor (22:08):
Yeah, which is, there's few other plants that we have
that you can say the same thingfor totally. Can keep it
effectively for months andmonths and months and months and
that all of a sudden, then boop.
It looks just like it was first,
Ellen (22:20):
and I can't wait once I have, we have the flower fridge,
right? We have now we have nostorage, no for anything. So I'm
gonna try to do this with someand I'm gonna try to put them in
the basement, in the coolingside, and maybe down in that
little party fridge we have. Idon't know, we'll see, but I'm
interested to see what varietieslast longer than others. And we
have, since, we have so manydifferent varieties, and then
(22:41):
trying it at a month, trying itat two months, three months, to
see how the bloom goes. Butthat's pretty incredible. I
mean, we tried a little bit ofthat with tulips this year. They
don't last as long in thestorage part of it, but that's
another flower that you canextend your season by doing some
of these techniques. Butpeonies. I mean, have peonies
through August, that'd beamazing.
Trevor (23:01):
And if you were able to grow an actual Marshmallow, yes,
that would also be amazing. Ourchildhood very happy. That would
be the whole that she neverleaves.
Ellen (23:11):
Gardens take on a whole new level.
Trevor (23:15):
I think one other thing about that you often see when
you do see the marshmallows,both real marshmallows and Peony
marshmallows. There's also a lotof ants usually on them, and I
find that whole discussion veryinteresting
Ellen (23:28):
Lots of scuttlebutt about the ants and the peonies.
Trevor (23:31):
There has been a long old standing myth ants were
required for a peony to bloom.
Ellen (23:37):
I've heard that. I've seen it on the forums. I've read
it.
Trevor (23:42):
Don't believe what you see on the internet
Ellen (23:44):
double check! I have to say, I enjoy
Connecticut gardeners so much.
This is the time of year whereeverything is a screenshot of
something green. That's rightwith the caption. What is this?
It's my favorite.
Trevor (23:56):
And do I need to get rid of these ants? Are these ants
harming my peony? Right? Arethese ants exactly what I need?
Yep, but it is 100% not a badthing to have ants on your
peonies. They are not required.
There is no need to have...
Ellen (24:10):
Why is it okay to have ants on your peonies?
Trevor (24:12):
It's a, it's a, it's a mutually beneficial
relationship. It's calledbiological mutualism,
Ellen (24:20):
really. So what do the peonies do for the ants and the
ants for the peonies?
Trevor (24:24):
Oh, I'm so glad that you asked me that question.
Please tell us more Trevor,as an amateur entomologist, I am
more than happy to answer theseant related questions.
And you know, I love insects, somuch they're your most favorite,
especially spiders. It'sessentially like any symbiotic
relationship.
Ellen (24:39):
I have to say really quickly that I flicked the
spider off a peony this morningwith my fingers. I flicked it
off. That was very brave of me.
Trevor (24:47):
A gentle flick?
Ellen (24:48):
It was a gentle flick, but still a was not a crush.
Trevor (24:51):
No, that's very true
Ellen (24:52):
that they do good things.
Trevor (24:53):
They do wonderful things.
Ellen (24:54):
I just don't want them near me. Sorry, I digress.
Trevor (25:00):
I am proud of you on this our wedding day to actually
have physically allowed a spiderto touch your body in any part.
Thank you. Yes, proud of myself.
It was a big it's a big day fora lot of reasons. Yes, go ahead.
No, essentially, it's just theants will help to keep aphids
and other harmful insects off ofthe peony while it's starting to
(25:23):
bloom. And then the ants alsobenefit from some of the sugar
that comes out of the bloom, andthey feed off of that nectar
that that comes off of thebloom. So you often see sort of
like a sticky, sugary substancethat comes 100% along with it.
But yes, it is biologicalmutualism.
Ellen (25:43):
This is the good stuff.
Mess with it. We use pesticides.
The ants don't come the right?
We ruin our soils. We all havewells here in Weston,
Trevor (25:54):
yeah, and I think that's but that is sort of as you think
about insects and pests thatnaturally occur on most plants.
It's usually not a positive orwe tend to think of it that. We
tend to think of it not as apositive.
Ellen (26:06):
And we need to do a little more research.
Trevor (26:08):
There's there's cucumber beetles, there's the list goes
on and on of insects that aretrying to eat the very thing
that you're trying to grow. Butin this case, the ants are
incredibly beneficial. If youdon't have ants on your peonies.
Peonies gonna be fine.
Everything's gonna open. Noproblem at all.
Ellen (26:25):
But you don't need them for them to bloom.
Trevor (26:27):
That's what I said.
Yeah, they're gonna open justfine.
Ellen (26:30):
We're stating an opinion.
Trevor (26:32):
No, we're stating a fact, stating a fact. This is
fact, yard to yard to fact, factto table to yard, back to yard.
Table happening. Your peonieswill open whether or not you
have ants. If you have ants inyour kitchen, your peonies will
still open. These are totallyexclusive of each other. Yeah,
that feels weird, but they doget a the ants get that high
(26:53):
energy food source, and theplant doesn't have as much
damage. It's a good thing.
Ellen (26:58):
It is a good thing. And I know this is a flower too,
that people are always soexcited about and nervous at the
same time. But really, and we'retalking about a lot of care
items, but it really is an easygrower, and it may take a little
while. And I think that's wherewe I think we're so used to
everything being fast. Yes, treepeonies, we didn't plant them,
but we didn't know what theywere. They didn't bloom, but it
(27:20):
took a while. So they may havebeen planted more recently on
but or they were not had a roughtime getting what they needed,
but they will show eventually.
And they're glorious.
Trevor (27:31):
Yeah, they're all pretty amazing. Yeah, you know, there's
another reason why we likepeonies...
Oh, I knowin this family, in this
household,
Ellen (27:40):
It was another one of those cool things. Listen, I
think we all can relate. Whenyou fall in love, there are
things that you are so excitedto learn about each other,
things that you have in common.
Like, I like water. I like watertoo.
Trevor (27:54):
Oh, my God, you love air. Oh, air is my favorite.
Ellen (27:59):
And we had a lot of those moments. We had a lot of
fun things though, that werereal true.
Trevor (28:04):
Kismet
Ellen (28:05):
Yes,
Trevor (28:05):
Kismet connection points. We were very surprised
about
Ellen (28:08):
And this one was around, well, it was around, actually,
first like your greatgrandmother's birthday.
Trevor (28:15):
That's right, my great grandmother, Jesse spray crafts,
has my birthday. Do you guysshare a birthday, which was
pretty cool and bizarre. My dadhad mentioned that when we all
first met and somehow got on thetopics of birthdays, and he
said, Oh, my grandmother had thesame March 21
Ellen (28:32):
which was really, which was a lot of fun. Was really,
really cool. And then,
Trevor (28:35):
and I, sort of, I started thinking about this book
that my I started thinking aboutthis book that my great
grandmother had written. Shewrote a lot of poems in her
life, yeah, and her son, mygrandfather, James, illustrated
that book, and they had itpublished by a little little
press in in Ohio. And a lot ofthese were sort of like life
(28:56):
stories of the time when she wasgrowing up in the in the farm in
Ohio, farm in Ohio, and it'svery big holler, but there's a
lot of subjects in here, andthere's some on Thanksgiving,
and there's some on harvest. Andit was interesting connection
points. But there was one calleda peony match, which was a
fantastic little poem, whichactually was read at our
(29:19):
wedding. Yes, Ellen, would youread that poem for everyone?
Because it's a good one.
Ellen (29:24):
I would love to it's one of my favorites,
Peony match by Jesse spraycrafts, the gardens in tune for
a wedding in June. Of peoniesplanted last fall, white bride
and red bridegroom, all butted.
He's tall and handsome, and shesmall but luxuriant in pedal
(29:45):
down satin of white edged withRose, she will be in most
beautiful sight with her showerbouquet of white moths with
jeweled eyes and a diamond ortwo. It. All depends on the day
the cat bird will sing. He'ssinging right now. If his
nestlings don't hatch beforethen, if they do duty first, it
(30:07):
can easily be by the Wren, alittle ash tree, a new member,
he, who plans in the garden togrow, will officiate. Then he'll
shadow the pair, unless he'scalled elsewhere, I know. And
the iris in purple, the iris ingold, the bleeding heart weeping
with pink lemon lilies galoreand a wasp and bee score will be
(30:31):
the procession. I think
Trevor (30:37):
that's such a good one.
Ellen (30:39):
What I love... I'm looking at this beautiful
illustration that yourgrandfather made. And we have
all of these flowers. We reallydo in our garden.
Trevor (30:50):
I haven't heard it in a while.
Ellen (30:51):
The Bleeding Heart is the one that we need to add as I
look at this, but it's
Trevor (30:54):
we've got the irises in both purple and blue and gold.
Ellen (30:58):
Lilies. Got those, it's and those are in the cold frame.
So I love that, because they'rethe older flowers that we don't
touch that are have been herefor, literally, since Alice,
yeah, and it's just such abeautiful image of this Red and
White Peony getting married inthe garden. And we got married
in a garden.
Trevor (31:17):
We did.
Ellen (31:19):
It's a great memory.
Trevor (31:20):
We've spent so much time here, building this new garden,
working on our yards andcreating this amazing space. But
hearing that, you realize thatwe've actually been cultivating
this delicious life of ourssince the beginning, and it's
all been kind of leading us tothis place
Ellen (31:38):
I know, as I was saying it, I realized we did get
married in a garden, literally,the kitchen garden for the chef
who cooked our wedding banquet.
Yeah. Was all around us, yeah.
And this is so the essence ofwho we are as a couple, 12 years
later,
Trevor (31:51):
that's right,
Ellen (31:52):
and what we continue to do. And we're so grateful for
you listening and letting usshare this, because this has
been really fun, because theother thing about the peony, my
love is that it symbolizes alsoa 12th anniversary.
Trevor (32:04):
That's right, I forgot about that.
Ellen (32:07):
So Happy anniversary.
Trevor (32:08):
Happy anniversary.
Ellen (32:10):
I love doing this with you.
Trevor (32:11):
Me too.
Ellen (32:13):
Thanks for being with us and having a seat at our table.
Trevor (32:17):
Yard to table is a production of Macrocosm
Entertainment. Don't forget torate us and subscribe anywhere
you listen to podcasts and fortips and more information,
follow us on Instagram@stonebrookhouse.
Ellen, well, hello, Ellen.
Ellen (00:16):
Well, hello there, Trevor
Trevor (00:17):
It's a very special day here at the table.
Ellen (00:21):
It is. Welcome everybody to another episode of yard to
table. And why is it special?
Trevor (00:28):
It's an anniversary episode. No, no, not a 10 year
anniversary of yard to table,but a 12 year anniversary for
you and I.
Ellen (00:38):
That's right.
Trevor (00:38):
It is our wedding anniversary.
Ellen (00:40):
June, 1,
Trevor (00:41):
officially today,
Ellen (00:43):
it's pretty amazing.
We've been together 14 years.
Married for 12. Well, that isalso correct. And why is that
important to you? Our dearlisteners?
Trevor (00:53):
Well, they like us, and I think they want to know all of
the details of our life. Well,maybe not all of them, but at
least some of them,
Ellen (01:01):
Ihope not all of them,
Trevor (01:02):
that'd be a lot.
Ellen (01:03):
That'd be a lot, but it's, it's our anniversary, and
our love story has a lot ofsynergy with a flower that's
blooming right now.
Trevor (01:15):
Ah, and that is the May apple.
Ellen (01:20):
No, it actually maybe ate a fruit at this point,
though,
Trevor (01:25):
that's true. So it's not them very happy cutting we're
cutting that one out entirely.
It is your favorite season ofall. Season.
Ellen (01:34):
It is,
Trevor (01:35):
it is Christmas, not quite yet. That is a favorite
season
Ellen (01:39):
I do, I do love very much. Yes,
Trevor (01:41):
it's Peony season. It's Peony season. That's right,
friends, yes.
As the tulips fade and the mockpeonies fade, we enter into
Ellen's other favorite season,which is Peony season, which was
very present at a wedding of acertain crafts and crafts
(02:02):
wedding situation
Ellen (02:03):
12 years ago. Yes, well, peonies have always been very
traditional for weddings. That'strue. It's a spring flower, late
spring flower. And obviously, aswe head into June, which is
wedding season, brides andfloral artists choose peonies
because they're a beautiful,gorgeous, show stopping end of
spring flower as you see themeverywhere in bridal bouquets,
(02:24):
and we had them at our wedding,we had the gorgeous coral Peony
that was in my bouquet. Ofcourse, it was very hot that
day, so they were literallyblooming.
Trevor (02:34):
They were exploding
Ellen (02:36):
100 degrees.
Trevor (02:37):
Why do you...is you like the peony outside of just
getting married to me, oh yes. Imean, I want to like about
getting married to me, but
Ellen (02:46):
your shirt today is reminiscent
Trevor (02:49):
coral shirt. Unplanned.
No one can see that, but that'sfine. Is there more? What is it
about the peony that you like somuch? I don't think I've ever
actually asked you. What is itabout the shape, the color, the
variety, what is it? Tell Tellme.
Ellen (03:02):
Well, there's so many varieties of peonies, of course.
And I think the thing that I wasmost drawn to was the one that I
saw the most often prior toliving here, for sure, and prior
to my research since. But it'sthe big round, just showstopper
flower with its frilly centersand beautiful petals. The smell
is so gorgeous. You also knowthat I'm very drawn to things
(03:24):
that are round
Trevor (03:25):
and happy
Ellen (03:25):
and happy,
Trevor (03:27):
and a pumpkin, bumblebees, snowmen, snowmen,
peonies.
Ellen (03:32):
Yes, I don't know. I have a thing. I don't know where
it comes from, but obviously thepeony starts out in this
beautiful little marshmallow.
We'll talk about that a littlebit, and then it just continues
to grow. But it's to grow. Butit's this bulbous riot of color
and joy. And you cannot look ata bouquet and not feel happy. It
is just joy in a vase or a bushor a tree, whatever it is. It
(03:53):
makes me happy.
Trevor (03:56):
It also works well for me later on, in case, I become
just round and happy later on,it'll also be in good stead.
Ellen (04:04):
I love you now forever, honey.
Trevor (04:05):
On this our wedding anniversary. That's right,
everybody out there is gonna belike, This is not the podcast
that we signed up for. I thoughtthis was a podcast about yards
and gardens and love casts.
Right now, this is a wholedifferent piece of business. One
of the things I think was somuch fun about this yard, yes,
that we are now inhabited yardof stone the yard of Stonebrook
(04:28):
is,
Ellen (04:30):
let's get it back to topic.
Trevor (04:32):
Thank you. I appreciate that there was so many peonies
here, and it's almost a sign. Itwas,
it wasn't almost a sign. It wasa sign.
Ellen (04:41):
It was
Trevor (04:42):
Il segno,
Ellen (04:43):
as as our story goes, you saw Stonebrook, and we're
like, Yes, and I saw Stonebrook,and I said, No, we live here.
Still a true story. Our lifecontinues. But one of the things
that once I really realized somuch of what was here rose and
rose. Of Peony beds, maturePeony beds. And we saw the
property in
Trevor (05:04):
March, February, early March, originally, early March.
Ellen (05:07):
Obviously, nothing blooming snow on the ground,
correct. But I walked alongthose hedgerows, and I think
there was a, there might havebeen an article about those in
like cottages and gardens,correct.
Trevor (05:17):
There was a Connecticut cottage and gardens article that
was done about stone Brook acouple years prior, or a year or
so prior,
Ellen (05:24):
right? So we got a glimpse of what, obviously, the
gardens could be, which was, butthe rows and rows of peonies
felt like Kismet fate.
Trevor (05:32):
I think the fun thing about a peony, especially these,
which are these long growing,very mature peonies, like you
said, is that a peony can growfor 100 years,
Ellen (05:42):
which is crazy nuts.
Trevor (05:46):
Those crowns can stay in the same bot, and they can
flower reliably for 100 years,which is so cool. And maybe
that's why it's a weddingflower. Was because you la it
can last and last and last, likewe have lasted and lasted and
lasted and lasted
Ellen (06:01):
and will continue to I mean, the history of the peony
also is so deep. There is somuch. Obviously, it goes back.
It was native to Asia, Europeand North America, but the deep
roots, as it were, good puns,good puns. It goes back to
Chinese culture, the peonyflower. You see so much of this
(06:21):
in symbolism. There's medicinesthat are made from peonies.
There is anti inflammatoryproperties that the peonies have
that's been used in Chinesemedicine. There's also another
way that they use it formedicine, that was for mood
enhancement. And I mean, I justlook at a peony and I feel
better.
Trevor (06:37):
You don't actually need to take anything. I don't you
just look. It's a visual moodenhancer. Yes, and you don't
want to, I mean, like eatinganything too much, you're gonna
get sick. That's true. They uselittle bits and doses these,
yes, specialty items that theymake.
Ellen (06:53):
They bring joy from looking at them and obviously
ingesting them. And you know,last year I had saved Peony
flower petals. That's right, wesaved all the petals last year
so I can bombs and so I couldmake salt salts. And it was
awesome smell. It's just sobeautiful. So
Trevor (07:08):
I think that's the fun part about you think when it's
done, it's done, but if driedproperly, all of the petals can
be saved and the fragrancelasts. The fragrance last and
the color lasts. Yes, that'swhat I was so surprised about.
Was still hot pink. Was theywere very, very bright. They
lost almost no color. And thenwhen they went into the scrubs
(07:29):
and other things that you madewith them, all that color
retained. It was amazing.
Ellen (07:32):
And the fragrance is just beyond we were walking to
the storage barn to do therecording, and we have to walk
through, I mean all literally onour property right now, all
Peonies are starting to just popand explode. And the smell, I
wish I could impart that to allof you over the
Trevor (07:48):
we have not figured that out yet. Smell-o-vision has not
Smell-a-listen!
Ellen (07:51):
smell-a-listen.
But I mean, oh my gosh,the aroma of these, the big
white, oh my goodness, they'rejust beautiful.
Trevor (07:59):
You Can't even really talk about it.
Ellen (08:01):
I get emotional.
Trevor (08:02):
It's really gorgeous outside. I love how you said we
had to walk through
Ellen (08:06):
we did they draw you in.
Trevor (08:09):
There was no option.
There were no choices.
Ellen (08:10):
It's ridiculous the amount of peonies that were here
on the property. And of course,we knew nothing. We did a lot of
research because we wanted tolearn about what varieties we
had on the property, we believethat at least some of these
peonies were planted by Alicedel Lamar, the original owner
and builder of stone Brook, andhave probably been supplemented
(08:31):
by the various owners throughoutthe years of this history of
this property. But most of thepeonies on our property are
herbaceous peonies, and we havetwo beds in the very back of the
house along the pool deck thatare the what we believe are the
John Van Leeuwen peony, which isthis long stemmed early bloomer,
(08:51):
which has this gorgeous yellowfrilly center. And the petals
are a pale pink or white, andthey just kind of cup that
frilly center. They're gorgeous.
We have two rows along thegarden path that lead to the
storage barn that are the sameflower. And we also have some of
these double white peonies thatare just gorgeous. But then we
have two upper tiers of thegarden that are full rows of
(09:14):
peonies, and I they're a mix ofwhite which I think may be
Festiva maxima peony. They haveflecks of red in the center and
the little red in the stem. Andthen we have these beautiful,
I'm pretty sure, both light anddeep, Sarah Bernhardt, which are
those gorgeous double peonies,which are in that fuchsia and
that pale pink. And they justombre. I know I get so excited
(09:37):
the ombre of the pink in thelight pink is just it's every
shade of light pink that youcould possibly imagine. It blows
my mind.
Trevor (09:48):
And that's not the only kind. We also have some tree we
don't have a lot, but we havesome tree peonies. Those are
like a total surprises, by theway, because for some reason,
they didn't really bloom when wefirst got here. Then all of a
sudden. And this woody theycalled Woody's, if you don't
know nobody, also known as thetree woodies, they just
exploded. These are probably ginJays. They're these bright
(10:12):
yellow, red, flecked, I mean,saucer sized,
Ellen (10:17):
There like a Bread plate.
Trevor (10:18):
They're gigantic.
Ellen (10:19):
They're gigantic.
Trevor (10:20):
They're almost too big.
It's almost too much,
Ellen (10:23):
well. And I think we think they're either jinjae or
the souvenir D Maxim Cornu,which I just love saying,
Trevor (10:32):
souvenir di Maxim Cornu,
Ellen (10:33):
oh, there's an accent.
Trevor (10:34):
It is French.
Ellen (10:35):
That's actually perfect.
That's very nice. But they're,they're just unusual because
they have a little yellow,little peach this tinging around
the frilly edges, they'regorgeous. And their stems are
very heavy.
Trevor (10:47):
Oh my gosh, these things are it's like a ball and chain.
They're so they need to besupported so well, because
they're so big and heavy, theyjust pop, topple over.
Ellen (10:57):
And I had read about planting them. Do you want to
put them somewhere high, becausethe blooms tend to bend down
because of the weight of them.
Ours are sort of tucked awaybehind one of the boxwood x's.
So it's like, they're our firstbloomers. Every year they're the
first ones to come out, exceptthat first year, except that
first year. We're like, we haveno idea what this plant is. And
now we have four of them thatare just absolute show stoppers.
(11:19):
And we have this beautiful vasethat we bought from this
incredible local Potter teamcalled clay story in Connecticut
that actually worked perfectlyfor the flowers this year,
because you could cut very shortstems. I could put four of them
in this vase, and they justcreated this mound of color. And
the vase supported the topsreally well, because otherwise,
(11:42):
I've seen people cut them prettymuch right under the flower and
put them in like a bowl ofwater, yeah, like a very
shallow, shallow dish, exactly.
They're very beautiful that waytoo.
Trevor (11:52):
It's funny, because there's all the colors that we
have. Yes, I'm sure you knowthis, but maybe not everybody
knows this. There actually is noblue peony. It does not exist.
There is every other shade,creams and yellows and your
favorite, corals, even purples.
But there really isn't a bluepeony.
Ellen (12:12):
Now, listeners, if you know of a blue peony, if we're
wrong, I which I don't
Trevor (12:16):
think I'm I think we're, do you feel pretty confident
looking because I was thinkingabout our stone Brook blue,
yeah, in a way that we couldsort of interconnect that with
stone Brook blue. There is not atrue blue peony,
Ellen (12:27):
no, not that I'm aware of. And the colors are so
beautifully pale. There's likethat gorgeous pastel II grouping
of different colors, so they'resuper intense, yes, and you
know, you've got the reds andthe corals and the whites. It's
they're the hot, beautiful. I'mdrawn to the more bold colors.
As you know,
Trevor (12:47):
Are you? Yes, I am very 12 years together. I'm just
finding out that you like bold,big colors. If you could have a
nine foot picture of a paintingof a peony up close, Peony
anywhere you would, yes, itlooks great.
Ellen (13:01):
I had this wonderful wood cut print that I just got
of a peony too, right? That Ihave to get framed because I do.
I know my addiction is picturesof flowers.
Trevor (13:10):
It runs very, very deep.
Ellen (13:13):
I love it so much.
Trevor (13:14):
And I think one of the fun things we've mentioned in
our inaugural podcast for thisseason that we're working on our
scullery, and we're building awhole area for you to cut and to
store and to build and flowerfridge and all is that not quite
ready yet.
Ellen (13:30):
Now, unfortunately, quite ready yet. I know we're so
Trevor (13:35):
just we're not. I think it's gonna we're just gonna miss
it, but we might, yeah, I nevercan tell. Never can tell.
Ellen (13:40):
Yeah, we're not gonna.
It won't help us this year, butyear, but Care and Keeping of
peonies, and how you can extendyour Peony season is something
that we have done a lot ofresearch and continue to do. I
mean, peonies, and have done,Peonies are hardy for the most
part. I mean, they come back.
They're a perennial, which isand with their longevity, that's
an incredibly beautiful additionto your garden. That is. I mean,
(14:05):
there's maintenance. That's thepiece that they're easy to catch
for certain areas. Catch afungus. We have been very
vigilant, particularly thisyear, around applying copper
fungicide before they bloom,before they even come up from
the ground. When you start tosee this, those little tips
starting to come up with soil.
Little tips you want to startapplying every two weeks, copper
fungicide after it rains, orafter it rains,
Trevor (14:28):
because once it's gone, it's gone from the rain. That's
right, I will say that we havestruggled a lot over our years
here trying to control botryblight, trying to control
powdery mildew, powdery mildew,black spot. It's been a journey,
and I will knock on wood. I knowit feels that we've maybe turned
(14:49):
a corner?
Ellen (14:49):
away, I don't know. At least this season,
Trevor (14:51):
we've also had a lot of work where we haven't added a
lot of mulch. I think it's areally important season here. We
put a lot of unknown mulch intoour. Beds, and they don't like
all the peonies beds outside ofthe fact they don't like the
mulch, truly, we don't knowwhere it came from, that's
right. So it could have beenfull of a bunch of garbage. We
could have done it to ourselves,yes, but they don't like a lot
(15:12):
of mulch. They like dirt andjust plain open space, clean.
Clean gives a lot of ability tomove around a little bit more
and have air air circulation isfor all kinds of fungus, is
always super important to thatkind of airplay and air flow. So
you don't want anything toodensely packed. But it can get
tricky, because those crownsblooming year after year and
(15:33):
growing year after year, you canget a very dense group of
foliage.
Ellen (15:37):
The density is beautiful, but also because they
are so dense, and the stocks areso long and the flowers so
heavy, staking is criticallyimportant, super important. And
we've gone through some staking.
Trevor (15:51):
No, we and we do stake, and I'm not a huge
Ellen (15:54):
different trial and error methods we've had. I'm not
a huge
Trevor (15:57):
fan of our stakes, no, personally, I just don't think
they have enough robustness tothem.
Ellen (16:04):
You know, whose does, who? Oh, the grand arm of all
things garden. Ms, MarthaStewart,
Trevor (16:11):
yeah, those, Martha Stewart, those.
Ellen (16:13):
She posts those pictures,
Trevor (16:14):
those steaks. Oh, I'm not talking about the cow kind.
She has these double curly Qamazing stakes that have two
literal flip arounds, one in themid and one in the top. They've
got to be at their top four feettall. Five
Ellen (16:33):
She gives away no secrets. Not custom done.
Trevor (16:36):
They're custom done. And then they create this perfect
triangular pattern.
Ellen (16:42):
It's like a hexagon almost corrects, because they,
you stake them every I don'tknow foot really, I think it's,
it's maybe
Trevor (16:49):
six triangles make a hexagon.
Ellen (16:51):
That's right.
Trevor (16:51):
So triangular patterns,
Ellen (16:54):
I wasn't doubting you in any way. I was saying it how I
saw it, but they are marriagepeople, that's right. But there,
and the way that she, because ofthose lovely little double
loops, she gets that two prongssupport, and then the wire gets,
yeah, keep talking. Make itworse, criss crossed, and they
(17:16):
provide such beautiful support.
She's got a lot of peonies too,by the way,
Trevor (17:20):
yeah, we about no more shakes to Martha, but we have a
lot of peonies also
Ellen (17:26):
we do, but those steaks are Honey. Are you gonna
Trevor (17:29):
I should do the forge. I should, I should make them. I
need to make them because wecan't find them anywhere. We
can't they don't exist.
Commercially
Ellen (17:36):
bespoke Stonebrook Peony steaks,
Trevor (17:40):
they're not hard to do, that's what I've heard. But they
obviously, they take some effortand some forging and some
hammering and some things likethat. So that's all important
stuff, but I think we couldprobably get into it
Ellen (17:53):
if you're not into making your own bespoke Peony
stakes. There's a lot ofoptions. Some people do rings. I
think the staking is the best ifyou have a long row, especially
because that criss cross method,which is not as good as
Martha's, the one that we've gotgoing. Who's and who's are,
quite frankly, they provide thesupport that these big flowers
(18:16):
really need.
Trevor (18:16):
They really need the structure. They need the
support, right?
Ellen (18:19):
And you can split peonies in the fall. Dividing
can happen in the fall, but ifwe really talk about how you get
them from the beginning, you'reright. It's soil is always key.
Ensuring you have clean soil,organic soil. Obviously,
everything we do here isorganic, pesticide free. You
start immediately with thecopper fungicide. When you start
to see those tips coming out ofthe soil. Also do it again.
(18:41):
Reapply when it rains, but it'sabout every two weeks, and then
they start to come up, andthey're looking glorious, and
you start to see those buds onthere. Now for all of them, this
is always a very hard decisionthat I have to make, which is
removing buds. I have thatproblem with all flowers. We
know that when
Trevor (19:01):
it's almost sacrilegious, it's a real
violation,
Ellen (19:05):
like thinning radishes and carrots, it's like I just
the wasting of the thing, let itgrow. But with peonies, they are
heavy flower. And the Jan vanLewins that are in our path and
are in the back of the house,they are very strong stem that
they have. And the main floweris so big and beautiful, but
we'll get a lot of side buds,and they also can get pretty
(19:27):
big. Now, if you start to snapthose off as they grow, it
actually puts more strength andenergy into the main flower.
It's your choice. I'm notpushing you. You make your
decisions. But I've been trying,particularly with those flowers,
to get those little buds off theside as they're growing again,
it's up to you, no mulch. Andthen once you bloom, after that
season's done, you cut thoseoff. And then in the fall, we
(19:48):
cut them all the way down. I
Trevor (19:50):
I have a question, yeah, is it Jan, or is it Jan? Oh,
it's probably yawn. I wouldimagine it's yawn. I agree with
everything you said prior tothat, by the way, gotta be
Dutch, right?
Ellen (19:59):
Curious. Has to be to be a young John Van Lewin, yeah,
you're gonna do a Dutch accent.
Trevor (20:04):
No, I'm not
Ellen (20:05):
okay. Thank you. But I Is it just because you can't.
Trevor (20:08):
Wow, that's a real throwdown.
Ellen (20:16):
12 years. There it is.
Trevor (20:19):
Friends, wow, yeah.
Well, next episode, I will do anentirely Dutch accent. I
apologize from every top to thebottom. Apologize to everyone.
Will be amazing.
Ellen (20:31):
I apologize to everyone.
But here's the other fun buthere's the other fun part about
peonies, which, again, we just,I just started experimenting
with last year, and why I'm veryexcited for a flower fridge, but
you can do this with anyrefrigerator, really, that you
can keep them for up to threemonths, if you can cut during
the marshmallow stage.
Trevor (20:50):
Now, the critical part too early, and it's kind of
like, Oh, wait. Is it right now?
Is it? Is it next week? Is itnow? Is it some of this, like we
always say, requiresexperimentation
Ellen (21:00):
and constant watching, really, because you could not
have a marshmallow in themorning, and then at night, it
could turn into a marshmallow.
Well, what is a marshmallow?
Well, it's really when you startto see the color emerging in the
bud. And it's probably dependingon the variety, the size of a
ping pong ball, maybe a littlebit smaller, and it has a
(21:20):
squishy quality to it, so it'sreally has the feeling of
marshmallow texture.
Trevor (21:26):
And you definitely can see color. Yes, you have to see
color.
Ellen (21:29):
If it's hard, right? And it that color has not emerged,
then it's not a marshmallow. Butif you do see that, then you cut
the stem. I recommend kind oftaking the leaves off. So
stripping the leaves from thestem, you can wrap up those Some
people use. I hate usingplastic, because we're always
trying to reduce our single useplastics. You could probably
(21:50):
wrap up in floral paper, or youthrow them in the fridge, just
stack them on top of each otheras they are. And some say you
can keep them up to threemonths. All you do, if you want
to use them, bring them out ofthe fridge, obviously, recut
stems, hydrate them in water,bloom and they'll last for about
a week.
Trevor (22:08):
Yeah, which is, there's few other plants that we have
that you can say the same thingfor totally. Can keep it
effectively for months andmonths and months and months and
that all of a sudden, then boop.
It looks just like it was first,
Ellen (22:20):
and I can't wait once I have, we have the flower fridge,
right? We have now we have nostorage, no for anything. So I'm
gonna try to do this with someand I'm gonna try to put them in
the basement, in the coolingside, and maybe down in that
little party fridge we have. Idon't know, we'll see, but I'm
interested to see what varietieslast longer than others. And we
have, since, we have so manydifferent varieties, and then
(22:41):
trying it at a month, trying itat two months, three months, to
see how the bloom goes. Butthat's pretty incredible. I
mean, we tried a little bit ofthat with tulips this year. They
don't last as long in thestorage part of it, but that's
another flower that you canextend your season by doing some
of these techniques. Butpeonies. I mean, have peonies
through August, that'd beamazing.
Trevor (23:01):
And if you were able to grow an actual Marshmallow, yes,
that would also be amazing. Ourchildhood very happy. That would
be the whole that she neverleaves.
Ellen (23:11):
Gardens take on a whole new level.
Trevor (23:15):
I think one other thing about that you often see when
you do see the marshmallows,both real marshmallows and Peony
marshmallows. There's also a lotof ants usually on them, and I
find that whole discussion veryinteresting
Ellen (23:28):
Lots of scuttlebutt about the ants and the peonies.
Trevor (23:31):
There has been a long old standing myth ants were
required for a peony to bloom.
Ellen (23:37):
I've heard that. I've seen it on the forums. I've read
it.
Trevor (23:42):
Don't believe what you see on the internet
Ellen (23:44):
double check! I have to say, I enjoy
Connecticut gardeners so much.
This is the time of year whereeverything is a screenshot of
something green. That's rightwith the caption. What is this?
It's my favorite.
Trevor (23:56):
And do I need to get rid of these ants? Are these ants
harming my peony? Right? Arethese ants exactly what I need?
Yep, but it is 100% not a badthing to have ants on your
peonies. They are not required.
There is no need to have...
Ellen (24:10):
Why is it okay to have ants on your peonies?
Trevor (24:12):
It's a, it's a, it's a mutually beneficial
relationship. It's calledbiological mutualism,
Ellen (24:20):
really. So what do the peonies do for the ants and the
ants for the peonies?
Trevor (24:24):
Oh, I'm so glad that you asked me that question.
Please tell us more Trevor,as an amateur entomologist, I am
more than happy to answer theseant related questions.
And you know, I love insects, somuch they're your most favorite,
especially spiders. It'sessentially like any symbiotic
relationship.
Ellen (24:39):
I have to say really quickly that I flicked the
spider off a peony this morningwith my fingers. I flicked it
off. That was very brave of me.
Trevor (24:47):
A gentle flick?
Ellen (24:48):
It was a gentle flick, but still a was not a crush.
Trevor (24:51):
No, that's very true
Ellen (24:52):
that they do good things.
Trevor (24:53):
They do wonderful things.
Ellen (24:54):
I just don't want them near me. Sorry, I digress.
Trevor (25:00):
I am proud of you on this our wedding day to actually
have physically allowed a spiderto touch your body in any part.
Thank you. Yes, proud of myself.
It was a big it's a big day fora lot of reasons. Yes, go ahead.
No, essentially, it's just theants will help to keep aphids
and other harmful insects off ofthe peony while it's starting to
(25:23):
bloom. And then the ants alsobenefit from some of the sugar
that comes out of the bloom, andthey feed off of that nectar
that that comes off of thebloom. So you often see sort of
like a sticky, sugary substancethat comes 100% along with it.
But yes, it is biologicalmutualism.
Ellen (25:43):
This is the good stuff.
Mess with it. We use pesticides.
The ants don't come the right?
We ruin our soils. We all havewells here in Weston,
Trevor (25:54):
yeah, and I think that's but that is sort of as you think
about insects and pests thatnaturally occur on most plants.
It's usually not a positive orwe tend to think of it that. We
tend to think of it not as apositive.
Ellen (26:06):
And we need to do a little more research.
Trevor (26:08):
There's there's cucumber beetles, there's the list goes
on and on of insects that aretrying to eat the very thing
that you're trying to grow. Butin this case, the ants are
incredibly beneficial. If youdon't have ants on your peonies.
Peonies gonna be fine.
Everything's gonna open. Noproblem at all.
Ellen (26:25):
But you don't need them for them to bloom.
Trevor (26:27):
That's what I said.
Yeah, they're gonna open justfine.
Ellen (26:30):
We're stating an opinion.
Trevor (26:32):
No, we're stating a fact, stating a fact. This is
fact, yard to yard to fact, factto table to yard, back to yard.
Table happening. Your peonieswill open whether or not you
have ants. If you have ants inyour kitchen, your peonies will
still open. These are totallyexclusive of each other. Yeah,
that feels weird, but they doget a the ants get that high
(26:53):
energy food source, and theplant doesn't have as much
damage. It's a good thing.
Ellen (26:58):
It is a good thing. And I know this is a flower too,
that people are always soexcited about and nervous at the
same time. But really, and we'retalking about a lot of care
items, but it really is an easygrower, and it may take a little
while. And I think that's wherewe I think we're so used to
everything being fast. Yes, treepeonies, we didn't plant them,
but we didn't know what theywere. They didn't bloom, but it
(27:20):
took a while. So they may havebeen planted more recently on
but or they were not had a roughtime getting what they needed,
but they will show eventually.
And they're glorious.
Trevor (27:31):
Yeah, they're all pretty amazing. Yeah, you know, there's
another reason why we likepeonies...
Oh, I knowin this family, in this
household,
Ellen (27:40):
It was another one of those cool things. Listen, I
think we all can relate. Whenyou fall in love, there are
things that you are so excitedto learn about each other,
things that you have in common.
Like, I like water. I like watertoo.
Trevor (27:54):
Oh, my God, you love air. Oh, air is my favorite.
Ellen (27:59):
And we had a lot of those moments. We had a lot of
fun things though, that werereal true.
Trevor (28:04):
Kismet
Ellen (28:05):
Yes,
Trevor (28:05):
Kismet connection points. We were very surprised
about
Ellen (28:08):
And this one was around, well, it was around, actually,
first like your greatgrandmother's birthday.
Trevor (28:15):
That's right, my great grandmother, Jesse spray crafts,
has my birthday. Do you guysshare a birthday, which was
pretty cool and bizarre. My dadhad mentioned that when we all
first met and somehow got on thetopics of birthdays, and he
said, Oh, my grandmother had thesame March 21
Ellen (28:32):
which was really, which was a lot of fun. Was really,
really cool. And then,
Trevor (28:35):
and I, sort of, I started thinking about this book
that my I started thinking aboutthis book that my great
grandmother had written. Shewrote a lot of poems in her
life, yeah, and her son, mygrandfather, James, illustrated
that book, and they had itpublished by a little little
press in in Ohio. And a lot ofthese were sort of like life
(28:56):
stories of the time when she wasgrowing up in the in the farm in
Ohio, farm in Ohio, and it'svery big holler, but there's a
lot of subjects in here, andthere's some on Thanksgiving,
and there's some on harvest. Andit was interesting connection
points. But there was one calleda peony match, which was a
fantastic little poem, whichactually was read at our
(29:19):
wedding. Yes, Ellen, would youread that poem for everyone?
Because it's a good one.
Ellen (29:24):
I would love to it's one of my favorites,
Peony match by Jesse spraycrafts, the gardens in tune for
a wedding in June. Of peoniesplanted last fall, white bride
and red bridegroom, all butted.
He's tall and handsome, and shesmall but luxuriant in pedal
(29:45):
down satin of white edged withRose, she will be in most
beautiful sight with her showerbouquet of white moths with
jeweled eyes and a diamond ortwo. It. All depends on the day
the cat bird will sing. He'ssinging right now. If his
nestlings don't hatch beforethen, if they do duty first, it
(30:07):
can easily be by the Wren, alittle ash tree, a new member,
he, who plans in the garden togrow, will officiate. Then he'll
shadow the pair, unless he'scalled elsewhere, I know. And
the iris in purple, the iris ingold, the bleeding heart weeping
with pink lemon lilies galoreand a wasp and bee score will be
(30:31):
the procession. I think
Trevor (30:37):
that's such a good one.
Ellen (30:39):
What I love... I'm looking at this beautiful
illustration that yourgrandfather made. And we have
all of these flowers. We reallydo in our garden.
Trevor (30:50):
I haven't heard it in a while.
Ellen (30:51):
The Bleeding Heart is the one that we need to add as I
look at this, but it's
Trevor (30:54):
we've got the irises in both purple and blue and gold.
Ellen (30:58):
Lilies. Got those, it's and those are in the cold frame.
So I love that, because they'rethe older flowers that we don't
touch that are have been herefor, literally, since Alice,
yeah, and it's just such abeautiful image of this Red and
White Peony getting married inthe garden. And we got married
in a garden.
Trevor (31:17):
We did.
Ellen (31:19):
It's a great memory.
Trevor (31:20):
We've spent so much time here, building this new garden,
working on our yards andcreating this amazing space. But
hearing that, you realize thatwe've actually been cultivating
this delicious life of ourssince the beginning, and it's
all been kind of leading us tothis place
Ellen (31:38):
I know, as I was saying it, I realized we did get
married in a garden, literally,the kitchen garden for the chef
who cooked our wedding banquet.
Yeah. Was all around us, yeah.
And this is so the essence ofwho we are as a couple, 12 years
later,
Trevor (31:51):
that's right,
Ellen (31:52):
and what we continue to do. And we're so grateful for
you listening and letting usshare this, because this has
been really fun, because theother thing about the peony, my
love is that it symbolizes alsoa 12th anniversary.
Trevor (32:04):
That's right, I forgot about that.
Ellen (32:07):
So Happy anniversary.
Trevor (32:08):
Happy anniversary.
Ellen (32:10):
I love doing this with you.
Trevor (32:11):
Me too.
Ellen (32:13):
Thanks for being with us and having a seat at our table.
Trevor (32:17):
Yard to table is a production of Macrocosm
Entertainment. Don't forget torate us and subscribe anywhere
you listen to podcasts and fortips and more information,
follow us on Instagram@stonebrookhouse.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.