THE Peony Centerpiece

I have 10 minutes.  Just doing a drive-by blog entry!...because I've missed my blog and haven't had the time to tend to it : {  I was just thumbing through my files and came upon a set of pics of something I designed a while back.  The photos were taken by Smith at Smith Photography (check out his work on www.spphotostudio.com).

Here's the front view, filled with Coral Charm peonies, Sarah Bernhardt peonies, pink dahlias, roses, lisianthus, and mini hydrangea. 

 Here's his behind ; O

Nothing beats a close-up shot of peonies.  My ten minutes are up.

 

The Big Misconception

I haven't met too many brides that do not include peonies as one of their top five flowers. I can't say I can blame them since it is truly a beautiful bloom that is just a notch above most of its counterparts. Such beauty also comes with a hefty price tag, usually 5 to 10 times the price of a rose depending on the season. The size of the flower head and the intricate petal pattern (say that 10 times fast!) offers an ironically simplistic elegance that need not be paired with much more than some hot pink ranunculus and green hydrangeas.

On the flip side, I haven't met too many brides that do not list carnations as one of the flowers they dislike. So today, I'm playing Devil's Advocate of sorts (something my husband has seem to master!). At half the price of a rose, can a carnation really live up to the standard of a peony? Let me let you in on a little secret...the bouquet above has no peonies. Guess what those beautiful ruffly flowers are?

Carnations! Even if you were not fooled, you have to admit that they are quite stunning when they are incorporated correctly into a design. Perhaps its lack of beauty is a bit of a misnomer.