Maybe I do have a green thumb...

Right after we moved to our house, I planted 4 peony roots. One died the first year. One bush of the remaining three bloomed the first year, but I was out of town and missed them. Last year, two bushes bloomed a little bit, and one grew the beginnings of buds, and then quit.

I have gently fertilized, pampered and weeded my peonies like they are my prized possessions for the past 4 years with very little result. This year, it paid off!!! All three bushes are either blooming or are about to. For most gardeners, I am sure this is no big feat. But for me, it is huge! I can make lovely bouquets, huge altar arrangements, beautiful little corsages, but gardening is hard. Trying to read a book about gardening makes my eyes glaze over, but with my parents and grandparents all having gorgeous yards and gardens, there's a lot of pressure (imagined). The weather has been just right, I must have put just enough water and fertilizer on because everything is growing amazingly. My flower beds look like I know what I am doing.

Sorry for the overexposed picture, it was dusk. This one is ruffly white with very faint raspberry stripes on the outside. Smells EXACTLY like a peony should smell. I love it!
The mother-load. There are 27 buds here. The only problem is this one kinda stinks. No happy peony smell here.
The unknown peony that has never bloomed for me. It's got a lot of big buds on it, I can't wait for it to open to find out what color it is and what it smells like!
An overview of the main bed against the house. From far left: white peony, oregano, poppies, hot pink peony, more popppies, unknown peony (the one that's never bloomed before), more poppies, coral bells, POPPIES, day lilies about to pop and a butterfly bush behind.
What the bed looked like 2 weeks ago. The poppies are at least double the size now. Mormor sent me a zillion seeds and I spread them last summer. The plants are really healthy and thick, so I should have to some gorgeous red poppies soon.
Here's my giant hosta in the shade bed under the hammock trees. This was several days ago. the leaves are up, but the inch worms are getting them. I need to spray them and then I'll put up some more pictures.
I have to say, I am so happy with my flower beds this year. Maybe next year I'll rip up some of the front yard for more flowers!