2012 First Peony Bloom of the Season!

I can hardly believe it! My first peony bloom opened this week on Monday, March 26, 2012. It was Peony 'Early Scout', a single red peony of short stature. Many of the single peonies bloom first, and 'Early Scout' is usually one of the first peonies to bloom here for me. I knew it had been an extremely warm spring, and that it could have been any day for the peony blooms to start opening, but somehow I still feel like it snuck up on me. I hope this year will be a good one for the peony blooms. It has already rained quite a bit right before the bloom season, so maybe it will be a bit dryer this year during the bloom season. Last year it was so wet during our peony bloom season that most of the flowers turned to mush which didn't allow for very many pictures taking opportunities. So hopefully this year the rainy weather will be a bit more even tempered instead of continuous! I've volunteered to host a family gathering next weekend. So I'm hoping that several peony varieties will be in bloom then because my mother and grandmother (who was a big influence in my love of gardening) also love peonies. Spring has sprung! :)
Peony 'Early Scout'