Last week was Midsummer (Juhannus in Finnish) and it’s a pretty big deal out here. The entire country goes on holiday to enjoy the endless sunshine and balmy (especially this year) weather. There are a few old-fashioned garden plants that are particularly associated with midsummer here because they tend to flower around that time. Now seemed like the best time to showcase them!

Meet Paeonia officinalis ‘Nordic Paradox’ aka the midsummer peony (Juhannuspioni). I’m not sure if it that’s an officially recognized name, by the way — it just appears in a research paper that I keep seeing online. They call it Nordic Paradox because it seems to be very common and recognized in Nordic gardens, but doesn’t exist much outside of them. I can’t weigh in on the subject, since I only got into peonies after moving out here to begin with.

But yes! The midsummer peony truly is something straight out of everyone’s Finnish grandmother’s garden. I don’t know of anyone who purposely planted one, but they got it with the house and there it will stay for future generations as a sign of just how old your garden is. In our case, this used to be my friend’s grandmother’s garden, but the same idea applies.

Our plant is doing quite well considering it’s seen half of the last century. It puts out at least a dozen large blooms every spring in mid-June, lasting right through midsummer, and marks the beginning of our peony season.

I used to take these flowers in to make bouquets in the past, before I had a cutting garden, but prefer to leave them on the plant these days. This is mostly because they seem especially prone to shattering within a couple of days of opening, which leaves a huge mess on the table for a very short period of enjoyment. They also don’t have much of a scent, which I remember finding quite disappointing the first year. Still, those vivid pink frills are something I look forward to every June, a bright burst of color after spring’s subdued pastels.

Final count:

• Paeonia officinalis ‘Nordic Paradox’ – one very large and well-established individual