Peonies and the Tangerine Dream Cafe

There was a small patch of garden at the front of the house I grew up in, of course then from my child’s perspective it seemed vast.  I remember it in summer as being full of flowers: love-in-the-mist, marigold, clarkia, larkspur, lupin and dark red peony. These are still among my favourite flowers and nothing seems more extravagant or beautiful than the cutting of garden flowers, especially peonies, for the table. But in the Tangerine Dream Café and  believe me it is truly a place of dreams – on Friday there was extravagance in abundance with fat, coral-pink peonies sat in glass jars on every table. And when it comes to flowers I’m with Emma Goldman I`d rather have roses on my table than diamonds round my neck.

I’d been to the Chelsea Flower Show the day before (a wonderful surprise gift from my daughter) and was recovering from the heat and crush of the fabulous show. So it was a double Chelsea for me, first an afternoon and now a morning and just like Joni sang –the sun through yellow curtains and a rainbow on my wall…  (Joni Mitchell – Chelsea Morning)– and here I was in a real garden – the Chelsea Physic Garden (its not the first time I’ve mentioned it –click here to read my previous post ) no show, a place to find rest and be replenished. And isn’t that what gardens are for? Contemplation, renewal, healing… and on such a beautiful, cloudless day it wasn’t hard to imagine myself at the heart of my own English garden, blowsy with blossom, sat on the lawn in the dappled shade of an apple tree, listening to the soft fall of sprinklers,  – BLISS!

‘Oh won’t you stay, we’ll put on the day and we’ll wear it til the night comes.’

Now I am determined to plant some peonies in my own garden

DID YOU KNOW – the Chinese name for peony is ‘sho yu’ – meaning most beautiful. In folklore the peony was linked to the moon, it was believed to have been created by the moon goddess to reflect the moon’s beams during the night. During the Middle Ages ‘lunatics’ were covered with peony leaves and petals in order to cure them.

In feng shui the symbol of peony is often considered a metaphor for female beauty. Some feng shui masters do not recommend having the image of a flowering peony in an older couple’s bedroom in order to prevent affairs with younger women!