Wednesday, May 18, 2022
The Styer's Festival of the Peony began last weekend in Chadds Ford and will last until May 31.
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| It was not quite peak season for peony blooms |
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| Styer's Peonies has over 100 varieties |
Styer's Peonies was founded in 1920 by J Franklin Styer, a Pennsylvania Quaker and botanist. His father, Jacob J Styer, introduced the cultivation of mushrooms in Concord Township in 1895. (William Swayne is credited with starting the mushroom industry in Kennett Square, the Mushroom Capital of the World, in 1885.)
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| Single peony form |
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| The much smaller Eschscholzia californica/California Poppy |
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| Rows of peonies |
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| Rows and rows of peonies (KSS) |
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| This may be a semi-double peony form |
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| More peonies (KSS) |
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| Mostly pinks and reds were in bloom |
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The myth is that ants are needed to help the buds to open;
however, it is a case of mutualism, where the ants are attracted
to the sugary nectar droplets around the green outer part of
the flower, and they protect the plant from other pests (KSS) |
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| A stray white peony (KSS) |
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A cut-away of a peony blossom where the
seed pods have begun to develop |
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| A yellow peony |
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| Kent |
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| Honeybees were busy in the peonies (KSS) |
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| Tragopogon pratensis/Yellow Goat's Beard |
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| Double peony form |
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| Over the rise were more peony fields |
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The purple flowers of Paulownia tomentosa/Empress Tree,
which is invasive and can be seen in the woods in the area |
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