When I was a boy, my Grandmother had peonies, which she called 'pineys'. They were her flower of choice for decorating the family graves on Memorial Day, or 'Decoration Day' as many people still called it. They almost always were in full bloom on time for adorning the graves and it was a source of concern every year that, if they bloomed too early, the flowers would have wilted by the day, and conversely, if they were late there would be none for the graves.
Over the years, despite the fact that I have lived further north than where I grew up, the blooming has come earlier and earlier, to the point that I don't remember the last time they could have been used to decorate the graves.
Not this year, however! It has been a very strange spring. Normally, our various perennial flowers come in stages, daffodils, followed by tulips, then usually shortly after, the poppies, iris, and peonies all bloom at the same time.
This year, the daffodils came in on time, but the tulips were delayed by cooler weather. Then, as they were wilting away, a poppy or two bloomed along with a couple of irises. Over a period of days, most of the rest have gradually bloomed, but there are still irises in bud, waiting to bloom.
But, yesterday was Memorial Day, and not a single peony has bloomed. There are plenty of buds almost ready to burst into flower, but there would have been none for Grandma to put on the graves. She would have been very aggravated with 'Mother Nature'!
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