Garden News, Spring 2010

Unusually warm late-winter temperatures in northern New Hampshire tempt us with dreams of early gardens, often introduced with the freeze-thaw, freeze-thaw pattern of our annual mud season. So far, though, our north-facing peony gardens remain well protected under snow that'll last, we hope, at least through March.

Preparations are underway for opening the display gardens. This year we expect that many of the cultivars added two and three years ago will bloom, among them a selection of the intersectional hybrid peonies that thrive here. This year we hope also to showcase the early and very early herbaceous cultivars and tree peonies, whose flowers have often already passed by the time the garden opens for the regular bloom season in June. If you'd like to visit the garden earlier than usual to see these early and very early blooms, phone 603-837-9800 or email peonies@criv.com for information.

As the season progresses, watch this website for more specific information about bloom times. Unless a thunderstorm is in progress, the garden is open seven days a week, noon to four, during peony bloom.