When I was working in the garden a couple of days ago, I saw the leaves of red and pink peonies blazing with color as the sunlight passed through them. They were reaching upwards, not yet relaxed into their summer stance, and in this posture seemed to gather and grasp the light, shining with hues of red and crimson and warm green.
I happened to open Thoreau's Journal this afternoon, looking for entries in May and found this apt sentence from May 9, 1872:
Leaves generally are most beautiful when young and tender, before insects or weather has defaced them.
Much as I love peony flowers, I think I would grow them just for the leaves. They are one of the most intense pleasures of spring. And when the sun comes through them — as you've captured in your photos — there is no prettier sight in the garden.
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