-07_Mid May 2012 - Beauty in Art - The Regal Peony.htm

Mother’s Garden in Georgia – Mid May 2012

Beauty in Art – The Regal Peony

The peony, beloved of flowers in the orient as well as in temperate climates is prized for the beauty of its form the fragrance and abundance from early spring until the onset of hot weather. As there are innumerable types of peonies, a subject too vast to cover in an article, we will focus only on those peonies grown in Mother’s Garden.

Mother has given the peony the significance “Beauty in Art” and here is Her comment.

A beauty that displays itself and allows itself to be contemplated.

Art is discovery and revelation of Beauty. . . .

Sri Aurobindo

The late spring season is too hot for the late flowering peonies so the early and mid-season hybrids have proven to be the most reliable as the late flowering varieties do not fare well here.

Before I leave for my months in the Ashram the dead peony leaves must be cut and burned as they can spread disease throughout the beds. One year as I was trimming back the dead foliage I saw that the new shoots were emerging. I wrote the following Haiku (in an English form that has come to me) as I worked.

In silence I cut

Dead peony leaves,

Already the blood-red shoots awake!

Another Haiku came after a heavy rainstorm when the peonies were in full bloom.

Sudden and harsh

The uncaring rain

Shattered the peony blooms.

Here the peonies relish all the freezing weather they can get so I was fascinated by the shoots emerging in October, long before theonset of winter.

The Japanese Haiku poets also immortalized the peony, known in Japan as the King of Flowers.

Here are a few.

The peony's here

and no other flowers

can be seen

Issa

The laden wagon runs
bumbling and creaking
down the road...
Three peonies tremble

Buson

In the stillness,
Between the arrival of guests,
The peonies.

Buson

My good father raged
whenI snapped
the peony...
Precious memory!

Tairo

There are two major types of peonies, tree peonies and herbaceous peonies. There is only one tree peony in Mother’s Garden at this time but more are to come. On the next page is the flower of a tree peony photographed in Canada, included for its great beauty and with a prayer that it may soon be introduced in Mother’s Garden.

Art is nothing less in its fundamental truth

than the aspect of beauty of the Divine manifestation.

The Mother

Wonder Shall Not Cease 9/3/07

The flower’s aspiration must be ours

Devotion uncomplicated by the mind,

Offering desireless and pure

Self-giving without need of recompense,

Opening to the sun of being’s truth,

Blossoming in the light of love divine,

Growth sustained by total sacrifice.

I have felt the aspiration of the trees

And looked into the lily’s deep recess,

Inhaled the fragrance of the jessamine

And revelled in the peony’s perfume.

And as the flower turns towards the light

Opened out my petalled soul in prayer.

All Nature is a vast experience

Of God’s largesse - and wonder shall not cease.

Narad (Richard Eggenberger)

Tree peonies are said to live 50 to 100 years and the above variety has bloomed here for many years, each year producing more flowers. The herbaceous types are also long lived and we have had almost no problems with pests or disease. Though deer are abundant they do not touch the peonies, preferring other plants. Ants are often seen carrying ‘farming out’ the sweet nectar of the peony do not damage the flowers.

Peonies are divided by the type of flower they produce. These are: Single flowered, Japanese and anemone types, semi-double, double and ‘bomb’ double. All are beautiful and the fragrance of certain varieties is so special that they can perfume a home.

Peonies are not demanding at all, requiring little if any fertilizer for years but they require a large hole with well composted organic matter at planting time. The peony originated in China as have thousands of species now grown throughout the world. It was brought to Japan in the eighth century and symbolised wealth and honour along with good fortune.

Below are some of the photographs I have taken during the last 15 years. Some show the plant but I have focused primarily on close-up photography so that one can go deeply into the beauty of the flower, feel its vibrations of beauty and refinement and in silence and appreciation, contemplate its significance as given by Mother.