Planning Out New Shrubs and Plants

I'm having a lot of fun with planning out what to plant in the yard and garden for this Spring.  New to our garden this year are 6 peony bushes.  I need to figure out where to put them where they will get ample sun.  I'm a bit hesitant putting them so near to the house, since they attract ants like crazy.  However, since we have lots of large trees near our property, sunshine is at a premium in our yard.  I decided the only place that will work is the side yard. Do you plant your peonies near your house?  If so, does it impose an ant problem?  I'm also planning to order 2 David Austin Rose bushes to add to our rose garden.  I am so excited.  I really adore the ones in Davy's garden and he recommended Chamblee's Rose Nursery which has an amazing selection of David Austin varieties.  I have 4 hybrid tea roses that we planted from bare root last year, and although they are pretty, I really am looking forward to roses that have a nice scent and larger heads and petal count.  What are you excited to plant this season?

Anniversary Gifts

Last month was my 2nd year anniversary, and the hubs surprised me with a bag of daffodil bulbs. He listens well. He knows that I've been wanting to buy bulbs for the front flower garden. I love flowers and plants as gifts, so this made me super giddy. 

Then in the mail, we received a package from White Flower Farm.  His Grammy had sent 2 Nancy Nora Peony bare roots as an anniversary gift.  It was so thoughtful of her.  Peonies are my most favorite flower.  I absolutely adore them, from the large blooms to the fragrance!  It's so wonderful. The bare roots came nicely wrapped in wet newspaper.

The bare root was a really nice size. Very large as you can see.

I am not sure where to plant these peonies yet, so I decided to plant the bare roots in containers for now.  Does anyone know if I can keep them in containers throughout the winter and plant them in the spring?  And does anyone know when I stop watering them for the winter?  Should I stop after the first snowfall?

The directions said to plant the bulb until the buds are just barely an inch under the soil.

I can't wait until the peonies start growing into a bush in the spring.  I am soooo excited!  My friend told me that bare root peonies usually take 3 years to flower.  Ugh, I can't wait that long!  As a gift to myself, I also order some Crocus Sativus from McClure and Zimmerman.  $7.95 for 12 bulbs, I thought that was a great bargain.  I ordered from them because I read on Greensparrow's blog that they were a good company to order bulbs from.  I ordered these bulbs after reading about them on Greenish Thumb.  I never knew that is where saffron comes from.  I love using saffron in cooking but I rarely buy it because it's so expensive.  How awesome that you can grow your own.  I bought a dozen bulbs to plant in the garden, I can't wait until they come up next October!  Fun!!