Picture of the Day: Peonies in Bloom

The brief life of peonies make them even more special in May

For a brief window of about two weeks in May, my mother's highly-anticipated peonies bloom and just as quickly wilt.

It's an annual spectacle we take in and watch in awe as these giant flowers unfurl themselves like creased silk sheets from a tight bud.

Giant bursts of pink in the garden

Her green thumb secret is using fertilizer she has composted for months that she spreads on the soil three times a year to ensure the blooms come out. There are well over a dozen of them together on the bush, making it hard to photograph them all.

But here they are in their pink glory! They are Chinese peonies, not at all like the western ones that look like giant carnations.

They inspire those Chinese watercolour paintings. But here I've captured them with my iPhone before their beauty fades...