Tree Peony and Old Glass

2011 Challenge - growth

The Peony.

This tree peony is nearly as old as I am, I think i was five or six when it was planted. That makes it 60 at least. It suffered a lot a couple of years ago as the Epimedium or Baron Wort planted further along the bed, spread to invade the trunk! The flowers faded to a grubby sort of pink and the shoots started to die before the buds could open. Since then I've dug all the Epimedium out, realising that it must have caused the death of one of my dad's rhododendrons a few years earlier. I keep a sharp eye out as there must still be root in the trunk and every now and then a brave shoot of the dreaded invader pops up and I weed it ruthlessly. I blench when I see it for sale as it is extraordinarily invasive and creates a thick matting of root along the surface of the soil.

The Glass.

The window behind the peony is reflecting the house backing on to us, it's a lot further away than it looks. You can see by the disruption of the reflection that the bottom left pane of glass is much older than the one next to it and that isn't very new either! The house was built in 1905 so I guess that one pane dates from then. I can't believe I didn't notice the reflections when I took the photo, I must learn to look at the background when composing my pictures!