100 Species Challenge #11: Peony

Two years ago (!) I decided to embrace the 100 Species Challenge. I began taking pictures of various plants and flowers in our area, and posting them here, in the hopes that I might eventually catalog 100 different kinds of flora and fauna.

It's actually been a great challenge. It's kept me on the lookout, these past two years, for whatever bits of natural beauty I can find in our little town. It's also sent me looking up information about various plants: sometimes to identify them and learn their names, and sometimes to learn more about plants I already knew. Because we live in an urban area, the species diversity is not as strong as it is in some other parts of the country/world, but I've still been pleasantly surprised and grateful for the diversity I've found.

I've been remiss in posting many of the pictures I've taken, which is why I'm only up to #11 on my "countdown." Just recently I've resized and tagged a good handful of photos and hope to post several of them in the coming weeks. A lot of them are spring flowers, so don't be surprised by a sudden onslaught of spring beauty here on the blog as we begin wending our way towards fall.

But as I get back into the swing of things, I thought I'd post a photo from early June. Every June, for the past several years, I try to get a picture of the beautiful white peonies (genus paeonia) that push through the white fence of a nearby yard. I love walking down that particular street in early June, just to find these short-lived but sumptuous blooms.



I'm not sure what the lovely little wildflower scraggling up the side of the fence is -- if you know, I'd love to find out (and will add it to my growing list).

I was curious to know why we always see ants crawling on or near the peonies. I've wondered if they might hurt the plants. Apparently the answer is no -- they're neither "harmful or beneficial" -- they're just there because they like "the sugary liquid secreted by the flower buds."