Peony

Tree Peony

Paeonia

Scorpio

Vibrancy, Winter

Peony is a perennial known for it's large showy pink, red, white or yellow flowers in spring and summer. Newly planted peonies may take up to three years to produce flowers.  Mature plants may require support as the number of flowers may cause the supporting stems to bend to the ground. Peony plants require little care and can survive winter temperatures to -30 degrees F, with some able to tolerate -50 degrees F.

Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and along the Pacific Coast in North America.  Tree Peony is native to China.

Peonies are available in two types:

• Herbaceous Peony likes full sun.  Plants grow to 4 feet and blooms are up to 6 inches in diameter.  A well established plant may have several dozen flowers. Herbaceous Peony can be divided. At the first frost, these plants die back to the ground and reemerge in the spring. These plants have been known to live in the same place for 50 years or more. They are deer resistant.
• Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) typically grows to 5 feet tall but can grow up to 10 feet tall and are 4 to 5 feet wide. The plants like partial shade and well drained soil. In the fall, the plants loose their leaves but the woody branches remain visible through the winter. Tree Peony is grown from seed or grafts. 

The two energetic aspects of this plant, vibrancy and winter, provide balance for each other. The Peony flowers are bold and are produced in high numbers in spring and summer, showing us the bold aspects of vibrancy.  Peony is for those who like life bold and colorful, who live with vibrancy.  This is the energy that can be used to provide focus and, more importantly, the action needed to create and complete projects, from planning a party to producing a software release. The vibrancy will carry the planner and the project to completion.

One who is familiar with peony energy may also be thankful for the dormancy in winter.  Peony either dies back or loses its leaves, but either way it becomes quiet and is prepared for extremely cold temperatures of winter.  We can learn from this example that winter can be a time of quiet rest. The darkness can be used as a time of contemplation and planning, and the cold a way to slow down and prepare for the action that spring and summer will be sure to bring.

People who chose to work with Peony have the best of all seasons - the vibrancy of the full sun of spring and summer, and the time to contemplate and plan during winter.

Pansy

Pansy

Viola tricolor hortensis

Capricorn

Thoughtfulness, Winter

Pansies are colorful flowers grown as annuals in most regions. Pansies are cold hardy plants that can survive a frost.  This plant doesn't like intense summer heat which can inhibit flower production.  Many of the hundreds of types of pansies have heart shaped flowers and come in many colors including white, yellow, red, orange, purple, violet, brown and blue. Some are two colors. The flowers are formed with five petals and are fragrant.  Both the leaves and flowers are edible. Many varieties are biennials with a two year cycle; the first year flowers bloom and the following year(s) the stems become long and not as hardy.

Pansies are similar to violets - both belong to the genus Viola.  

Pansies like well-drained, rich soil full of organic matter and grow best in full sun to partial shade.  Plants spread up to 12 inches and grow to 9 inches in height. Pansies attract butterflies which bring in the energies of metamorphosis and personal transformation.

Pansy is from the French word pensée which means "thought." Pansies bring to us and bring out in us thoughtfulness.  What does this look like?  Are you thoughtful or are you seeing pansies everywhere as a reminder that thoughtfulness on your part would bring great joy to you and others around you?  Do you need to be thoughtful about where you are and where you are going?  You can use the energies pansy brings to us to aid in thinking through complex issues and to identify goals and to work through the steps you need to accomplish a goal. Remember to be gentle with yourself and that simple steps can solve a complex problem.

Some varieties have markings that look like the flowers have "faces." This prompts us to ask what face are we choosing to wear today? A face that looks pleased with the day will bring back people who are also pleased with the day.  As you wake each day, you have the option of deciding what face you'd like to wear. 

This flower also symbolizes those of us who love the cold, who thrive in cold weather and can be comfortable in less cold weather clothing than most others.  These are the people who tolerate summer but are happiest in fall and winter and the coolness it brings.