Peonies in cages -- not as dramatic as it sounds. If any of you have peonies in your garden, you probably already know what I mean. But if not, here's a little info about one of Pennsylvania's favorite flowers.

Peonies are long-lived, perennial flowers that produce large flowers in the spring. Colors include black, coral, cream, crimson, pink, purple, rose, scarlet, white, and yellow. By planting early, mid-season, and late flowering cultivars, you can have peonies flowering for 6 to 8 weeks. Two types of peonies are grown in Pennsylvania: garden peonies (Paeonia valbiflora or Paeonia officinalis) and tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa). Garden peonies are herbaceous perennials (height 20 to 36 inches) grouped into five types according to flower shape: single, semidouble, double, Japanese, and anemone. Tree peonies produce large numbers of flowers on a shrub-like plant; the stems do not die back each year (but need to be placed indoors to survive Zone 6).

Enough info for ya? Well, if not, there's a whole lot more on the Internet, including a great web site for ordering all kinds of peony varieties -- www.peonies.net

Anyway, back to the cages. The flowers produced by peony plants, while striking, are also so huge and heavy that the stem usually can't handle the weight and the whole plant droops, with the flowers dragging on the ground. Not to appealing huh?

So, you need a peony cage to help support the huge blooms. I think I got mine at Boscov's a few years ago. It consists of a plastic coated wire hoop with three spikes dangling from it. The hoop unhooks to make it easier to wrap around the peony stems. After surrounding the stems, simply place the spikes into the ground and voila! -- Your peonies will stand up and look beautiful even in the hardest rain!

I also made another trip to Glick's Greenhouses over the weekend and they now have the sweet potato vine I told you about last week. It's called the "Ace of Spades" sweet potato vine (pictured here). Better get them soon, they were going fast!

Up next: My spring favorite -- Bleeding Hearts!