3 is a Magic Number
This advice is a little late for planting spring bulbs, but it is useful advice whenever you plan to have more than one of the same plant in your yard; plant in odd numbers.  For some reason 4 red tulips never look exactly right, always plant 3, 5, 7, etc.  I like the idea so much whenever I even cut flowers from the yard (like peonies) I always cut an odd number for an arrangement.  This is especially true if your house is asymmetrical in style.

If you have a symmetric design to your house, you may be tempted to plant in twos, such as an arborvitae bordering each side of the front door, etc.  I would caution that once you begin to plant in that style you may be locking yourself in to a more formal garden setting.  Formal gardens require more planning and maintenance than the casual cottage garden, but if you are willing to do the extra work for the satisfaction of the effect, go for it!

Peony Rain
June is headed fast our way, the peonies are all budded, so that only means one thing: we can expect a week of rain.  It is an oddity that peony buds mean heavy rainfall, but it never fails, the peonies will just begin to open then get so heavy with rain water they flop to the ground. They do sell peony supports, but I am not usually on the ball enough to get the support on the plant before it needs it.

Peonies are one of my favorite cut flowers, which is fortunate since they almost require cutting once they flop, because you only have to pick a few (in an odd number :) to create an arrangement that looks both dramatic and beautiful.

Shown here is a pink peony I brought from our last house.  There is a rumor that peonies do not like to be moved, but I disagree.  I brought three in pots in the move (the roots are long so careful lifting them out of the ground) and now have about five of these plants.  I would just have the original three, but I tried to move one a couple years back and when I lifted it out of the ground, the roots fell into three separate sections.  I planted each root section separately, and though they were very small for a couple of years and did not bloom, this year they look large and healthy.  In gardening it is good to be flexible and a little brave.  If you are unsure about whether you can move a plant, you can try to research how large the root ball is expected to be (you don't want to accidentally drive a spade through the center of roots) or you can take a good guess based upon the age of the plant and start digging a large circle then move in as needed.

The pink peony also has a little story.  When we moved into our last house there was a large garden-like area in front of the house which contained only a large blue spruce, 2 climbing roses, roughly 30 double flowering pink peonies and nothing else.  When Spring hit, I decided that I couldn't justify an all pink front garden (not sure what possessed the former owners to plant so many of one color) so I offered up the peonies to everyone I knew but had no takers (sad because I've come to understand how expensive peonies can be).  Consequently, I threw away about 25 of the peonies and kept the rest but spaced them out and mixed in some summer and fall bloomers.  I was a bit sad when we sold the house under two years later, because I didn't get the chance to see how beautifully the plants would have filled in.  I took consolation in potting up many seedlings (and three peonies) to take with me.  If you do plan on potting up some plants for a move (or to give to a friend) do make certain to keep them watered and put them in the ground sooner rather than later (nothing drives me crazier than to carefully dig, pot, and care for plants just to see them dried out in a friend's driveway, it's just plain disappointing.)