These peonies’ bright green stems play an architectural role in an arrangement that breaks convention, defying the common rule that the height of the arrange ment must be equal to or taller than the vase. I bound the stems in a tight column with clear rubber bands, balancing the flowers’ brilliant color against the delicate lines of a ginger-jar-shaped, silvered-glass vase. “Not all flowers have good-looking stems,” Kevin says, “but peonies do.” Just-unfurling buds add a nice roundness to the bouquet of ‘Emma Klehm’ variety blooms.
A vintage black Chinese teapot with flower and dragon relief holds an arrangement of intensely saturated tree peonies with bright yellow centers. Kevin considers this arrangement a “step up” from floating a single blossom in a bowl, when you want to try something similar (short stems in a low, shallow vessel with a wide opening) but with a few extra layers. The lighter notes of Dianthus, placed at different heights for more variety, immediately draw the eye, the petal structure mimicking the appearance of moth wings. Kevin allowed the stems to remain long, which he says is a good way to make sure the little flowers don’t get left behind.
‘Ivory Atlas’ peonies, early bloomers with a double row of large, rounded petals, are set off with the tiny bell-like flowers of Hyacinthoides hispanica ‘White City’. The delicate smaller flowers accentuate the robustness of the peonies and provide visual relief from the larger blooms. Feathery ferns and the strong greens of variegated hosta leaves lend this arrangement a woodland touch. To build, Kevin used a tape grid across the mouth of the vessel (see this page), which gives the handful of peonies a boost, making them appear more numerous. He started by placing a cuff of hosta leaves around the outside of the vessel, then added the peonies, and finally the wood hyacinth.
The double-form ‘Dayton’ peony, with its cottage-garden friendly good looks, along with foamy sprays of smoke bush and sleek waves of dark Heuchera leaves, is right at home in a wicker basket. The texture of the willow-gathering container provides greater depth and tactility to the overall combination. Here, Kevin used a plastic liner and a brick of environmentally friendly floral foam, soaked for at least two hours until completely saturated. Once the floral foam was placed inside the vessel, he inserted the peonies and foliage interchangeably, to form undulating masses of flowers. “It’s a toss-up as to who is the star of the show,” he says. “Is it the peonies or the foliage?”
An exuberant gathering of mixed blush-colored peonies takes a tall midcentury Italian hand-painted pitcher to even greater heights. To offset the pastel ruffles of the ‘Angel Cheeks’ variety, sweeping amaranth is added, which provides movement and dimension to this bouquet. “You don’t need to be an expert for this kind of arrangement,” Kevin advises. “I just wanted this to be a pitcher filled with beautiful peonies.” To help each blossom retain its shape and character, he chose peonies at different stages of bloom and cut their stems at varied lengths, then staggered them to best display the cuff of outer petals.
Inspired by an Old Master painting, Kevin arranged seasonal flowers in this French tureen. It is a true snapshot of the garden, containing all the flowers available at that very moment. The herbaceous peonies ‘Brother Chuck’, ‘Elsa Sass’, ‘Prairie Moon’, and ‘Top Brass’ mix well with ‘Prize Gift’ yellow tree peonies, columbine, wood hyacinth, trillium, and fuchsia. Green notes come from Heuchera and strawberry leaves. He started with a foundation of fluffy peonies, some of which become a little obscured in the final arrangement. “Flowers don’t necessarily have to be seen in their complete, most beautiful condition to be successful in an arrangement.”
If peonies symbolize good fortune, these ‘Yellow Emperor’ Itoh hybrid peonies seem destined to bring luck. Here, Kevin added very dark green and chartreuse hosta leaves and Alchemilla (lady’s mantle) for shape and texture. “The leaves complemented the peonies’ gorgeous, hot imperial yellow. Hostas are invaluable when it comes to flower arranging. They can add a splash of great color—variegated or solid—without stealing focus.” He placed the hosta leaves first, then added the peonies one at a time. The Alchemilla came last, after analyzing the existing arrangement from multiple angles to discover where a little “noise” was needed.
To offset the ‘Lafayette Escadrille’ peonies in the deepest, most dramatic shades of red, frothy lady’s mantle lightens up things and reflects the blossoms’ sunny yellow centers. Spiky blades of Carex grass and chartreuse hosta provide contrasting texture and shape. “Chartreuse can be gorgeous in arrangements; it’s a color I’ve really grown to appreciate since working with Martha,” Kevin says. An antique salt-glazed stoneware storage jar gives the heady arrangement a simple, earthy base. “The lady’s mantle adds that element of smoky fizz, and the Carex lends the sharpness that you need when arranging with big, fluffy peonies.”
The best companion plants play off the peonies’ fragile, round prettiness: dark leaves and contrasting shapes. Here, a riotous mix of blood-red ‘Cherry Charm’ and ‘Buckeye Belle’ peonies, tropical bat-wing philodendron leaves, and foamy smoke bush sprigs contrasts with the refined tracery on a Wedgwood jasperware urn. A grid of clear plastic tape across the vase top supports the stems; Kevin built a foundation with the peonies, then added the leaves, and finished with smoke bush.
Marco Polo once likened peonies to “roses as big as cabbages.” With their big blossoms, it doesn’t take many peonies to form a perfect dome—and to make a lasting impression. Here, Kevin cut the stems of ‘Miss Congeniality’ anemone-form peonies short and massed them in a small but vibrant cloisonné bowl that plays on the flowers’ off-the-charts color. “I took my cues from the container,” he says. To construct the dome, he used a flower frog and started with the longest stem in the center. “I knew it would flop around a bit at the start,” he explains, “but when you add the rest of the flowers in rings around the bowl, everything winds up where it needs to be.”
The peony is such a strong foundation flower that it can be the base for an arrangement that builds up around it—or it can hold its own without too many supporting players. Here, Kevin matched white bomb-form peonies with ferns, catalpa blooms, and the arching stems of Solomon’s seal in a hand-painted, bottle-shaped porcelain vase by Ruth Gurvich, a Paris-based Argentinean artist. “The arrangement is a nice sort of conversation among blooms on different scales,” Kevin says.
Summer is the season of constant bloom and rich color in the cutting garden. When one variety ends its blooming period, another takes its place. Poppies are followed by many varieties of lilies and Siberian iris, which lead to hollyhocks and gladioli.