A "Field Trip" to Hollingsworth Peonies in Skidmore, Missouri

By a stroke of luck, a few weeks after I arrived in Missouri, my mother handed me a newspaper clipping about a peony farm tour that was happening in a few weeks. Which was all very odd, because she didn't know I even wanted to see this farm. But she did notice it was something I would definitely be interested in. Of course, I had to go check out this place.

While I can fully appreciate a peony, I had never grown them because I'd been living in the desert southwest for two decades. And this is a plant that is not easy to handle in that climate. Also, nothing is more spectacular than peonies in full bloom. But I really prefer flowering plants and rebloomers that go nonstop for months rather than a few weeks. They can also take a few years to get established, and are not fast in terms of creating new varieties from seeds. It might be years before you see a bloom when grown from seeds. Now, something like a zinnia, dahlia, rose...you will see a bloom in the first year. That's why I tend to grow those varieties more.

Apparently, the peony farm decided they were going to open for a touring weekend as part of a fundraiser. I signed up that same day I heard about it and got their VIP tour. Originally, I was thinking, this farm is in the middle of basically nowhere in northwest Missouri. So I might get to spend a lot of time talking to the team running the farm. But word got out, and the VIP group that I thought might have 5 people at most, had closer to 30 members. I think at one point I even fantasized that I was the only person in the area that would even consider the VIP tour. Imagine that, your own personal VIP tour. But back to reality. The VIP group was bigger than I thought the entire event would be, including everyone who wasn't paying extra for the VIP. It seems like many people at the farm had traveled a large distance from across the country to see the farm. The originator, Don Hollingsworth (who is in his 90s) also gave a short discussion during the VIP event.

Because the farm is located in Skidmore, Missouri, I had my parents drive me to the event. Mainly because I hadn't been in town for decades and didn't even remember what roads went where. On the day of the event, they drove me out in the middle of the country, turned left, turned right, turned left, went up and down a lot of hilly roads, drove up a long gravel road, drove by fields after fields of nothing but space, trees and cattle. I didn't know whether to be horrified or in complete bliss at being so far away from society. Then we arrived at the farm, which was in a very scenic area with a home and farm located in the back. It would be a quite dreamy place to live and work.

It was interesting to see their set up and the thousands of peonies in full bloom. I have concluded that most flower farms are very similar in terms of how they operate. There are sectioned off areas for growing seedlings, and if they produce flowers of interest, those are moved to the next garden. I keep hearing the same thing from everyone who breeds flowers, you might find 1 or 2 good flowers out of every 100 seedlings worth keeping. The same applies to peonies. That seems to be generally true that, while not every flower is "junk," you want a flower that has a good form, double bloom, nice color, with a stem that can easily support the weight of the bloom. And often you will get some or none of what you want on a plant. Occasionally, you'll get everything you want all at once. Or enough of a good thing. And those are your keepers.

I did decide to add a few peonies to my garden this year. But it's more of a fun flower to enjoy, rather than something for me to get really, overly excited about. It was interesting to get out there for a couple hours and walk among the flower fields and see what people are doing.

I don't know if they will ever be open to the public again. But you can certainly view their online catalog and grab something for your own garden. (www.hollingsworthpeonies.com)

The Aley Acres seed shop on Etsy.

Dahlias, Notes from a Gardener book on Amazon.

Floral Art and Landscape Painting Etsy shop.

TikTok, some gardening posts.