peonies, the most pointless flowers ever

we have two peony bushes in our front "yard" that i cut to the ground last fall but came back this spring with a vengeance. they produce truly beautiful flowers, but they're so delicate and their beauty is so fleeting. before our first trip to kentucky over memorial day weekend, our peonies were on the verge of blooming. it was so imminent that by the evening before we left, a single, over exuberant blossom had opened up on one of the bushes. although the light was already a little low, i snuck outside with my camera and captured a couple of pictures of it.





here is a photo i had taken of the bud earlier in the afternoon just before it opened:



by the time we returned home from our trip, our peonies lay in ruin. they had blown their wad of gorgeousness while we were gone and the giant colorful blossoms had given way to flaccid lumps of bruised brown petals upon which a variety of insects were feasting. but there was still hope! a few of the under achieving late bloomers were still at the peak of their awesomeness, and with gratitude after the long trip back from louisville, i faithfully took my camera out to photograph them. i carefully peeled back the detritus to get some really pretty shots. but alas! shortly thereafter as i was trying to upload these pictures to my computer, my compact flash card somehow became corrupted and my photographs were irretrievably lost. ARGH!