Flower of Riches and Honor! King of Flowers! State Flower of Indiana!
I spent the whole day adoring my tree peony...
... and poring over some of the great haiku master Kobayashi Issa's many, many peony poems (see here for some). In fact, there are many more odes to this fantastic flower than you might imagine. Issa's range from naive wonder...
kore hodo no botan to shikata suru ko kana... to pride.
"The peony is this big!"
the child's arms
outstretched*
te mo sate mo te mo fukusô no botan kanaThere are ku that celebrate flower power...
no matter how
you look at it, a fat and
happy peony
fuku no kami yadorase tamau botan kana...and meditate on the buds' strange appeal to insects:
lucky, lucky
luckiest of flowers...
the peony!
gitetsu giôkyû shumon o hiraku botan kana
the crimson gate
of the ant palace opens:
it's a peony
And there are some that I don't quite understand...
neko no kurui ga sôô no botan kanaThis next one's my favorite of those I've read so far, though:
the peonies:
they really resemble
cats in heat
ato no yo no nedokoro ni sen botan kanaSomething about those silky folds...
peony blossoms:
that's what I'll sleep on
in paradise
It's been a spectacular blossom, but not yet a week's passed and already my peony is fading fast...
ogoso ni mo hikazu sadamete botan kana
magnificently
choosing its day to go:
the peony
What's up with ants and peony buds? They like Cosmos (the flower, probably the drink) too!
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The Heartland Peony Society says:
I have found that they like my red ones, but they don't bother visiting my pink ones. Weird, huh?
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I can state that you are only relating the facts and not bragging (okay, maybe a little) about your peony. It is just magnificent this year! And your red herbaceous peony looks like it is going to go crazy as well.
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And, Indiana gets the peony and Vermont has red clover for the state flower? Huh!
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