guilty floral pleasures

One facet of the human personality that I've always found particularly interesting is the difference in budgeting ideas.  To be precise: some people are happy paying for things that others would never, ever pay for.

I tend to be this way about bottled water. It didn't take me long to figure out that buying a pitcher and filter, instead of cases of bottled water, would save me a considerable amount of money. (Putting in a permanent system under the sink would make even more sense. Perhaps one day I'll get around to it.) But my otherwise budget-conscious friends drag the cases of water home on a weekly basis.

Until recently, I felt the same way about cut flowers. Usually I had some roses I could bring indoors. Once in a while I'd buy flowers at Whole Foods if the price was right, and if freesias were in season I'd buy a bunch.

But then I spotted some peonies in an upscale florist a few days ago, and I was smitten. I don't know what it was, or is, about peonies. I even Googled them to see if I could grow my own, but it seems to be similar to growing your own asparagus. You have to wait a couple of years to get a reasonable harvest, and peonies don't really like Texas weather.

Finally I went online, thinking what the hell, I'll order my own. I found some beautiful peonies at a place called Flowerbud.com. But they were $89.00. I was ready to pay $30-$40 for some, but $89.00 stopped me in my tracks.  

Whoever writes the copy for the Web site has definitely signed a pact with Satan:

Peony season will always be fleeting, demand is always strong and quantities are always limited.

 And if you're wondering what peonies look like, here's a photo: