Welcome to my Peony Heaven Collection. A series of sublime mediations of the Ancient Chinese flower, Mudan or Peony. This revered blossom, Mudan, also means “Spring Flower” in Mandarin. For over 1300 years the tree peony has been growing on hillsides in China. And China is the motherland of almost all of the garden peony varieties in the United States. hybrids grown today originally came from stock plants brought from china to Europe and to America in the eighteenth century.

The collection depicts a number of plein air Peony cultivars throughout their spectacular, ephemeral season from blossoming to fading. In each image, I chose to focus on the exquisite, exuberant nature of this “King of Flowers”.

My work documents the majestic Peony during their short-lived blooming period (2-3 weeks in late May and early June) for the last three years.  During this time, I am compelled to photograph every Tree and Herbaceous variety I come across. If there exists a blooming sample of the flower in the neighborhood, a friend's garden or on my way to work, I know when it will appear. Discovering new hybrids and observing the stages of the Mudan continues to be an endlessly fascinating subject for my work.

I am also an avid gardener and find immense joy and serenity in both tending to flowers and photographing gardens. This page represents a small selection of my photo library on the Peony. For inquiries on more images, prints and pricing please contact me by clicking on the stamp icon below:

contact the artist:

susan costello

8 gothland street

quincy, ma 02169

© s.costello 2008