Oh My Peonies prepare for busy summer

A local flower farm is looking forward to a busy summer.

Oh My Peonies, located just outside of Marion, is operated by brother and sister, Lee Mielke and Sue Anderson, who grew up at the farm house where Oh My Peonies is located.

In 2000, Mielke started to plant peonies to brighten up the community. He planted peonies while working a job as a farmer. In 2014, he retired from his job and ultimately decided to focus on the peonies. Mielke had originally planted irises, but after troubles with those, he switched to peonies.

“Irises take too much work and too long to bloom,” said Mielke. “With peonies, you do not have tear them out of the ground every year.”

Anderson mentioned that Mielke constantly planted more peonies every year. The farm currently houses 2,000 plants with 150 varieties of flowers.

Oh My Peonies is run as a business, where customers are able to order flowers, cut their own or just come to see all of the various peonies in bloom.

The cut their own flowers event started in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020.

“A lot of people were itching to just get out and be out in the open,” said Anderson. “This was a wonderful place for them to come and tour and see the beauty of nature.”

Due to the success of the cut their own flower events, Mielke and Anderson decided to run that again in 2021.

Anderson said that flowers are often cut for special events like weddings and other ceremonies. She added that customers are welcome to come to the farm, where they can pick out flowers to take or to visit their website, https://www.ohmypeonies.com, where the flowers can be ordered and shipped.

Mielke mentioned that the flowers normally bloom in early-mid June. With this timeline, Anderson anticipates that June weekends will be very busy.

“People really want to be able to come and view the garden,” said Anderson. “It is a great time for them to walk around and view the gardens with the different varieties of flowers.”

According to Anderson, Oh My Peonies has turned into a destination for people outside of Shawano County to visit.

“I was just talking to a girl who is coming from upper Michigan,” said Anderson. “We have people coming from upper Illinois and the La Crosse area — we have had people travel from four hours away to come here for the day.”

Anderson said that she constantly updates the website, as well as their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=oh%20my%20peonies, in order to keep people outside of Shawano County informed about the farm.

With word spreading around and the positive experiences that customers have had at Oh My Peonies, Anderson said that they are receiving order requests from Jan. 1 all the way until the end of the year.

Anderson mentioned that people within the community love seeing the bright colors of the flowers as well as the aroma.

“People love being able to see mother nature at her best,” said Anderson. “There are different things that people like about the peonies, like the scent and the peonies calming presence.”

She added that some visitors were able to bring family members and friends out of the nursing home during the pandemic to have a calming experience during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, Oh My Peonies ran in conjunction with Wisconsin’s mandates regarding when public places could reopen. They were able to reopen in June 2020. Anderson said that staff and customers felt safe enough during the pandemic due to everyone being outside and socially distant.

According to Anderson, peonies thrive in Wisconsin due to the flowers needing a dormant season.

“Wisconsin has just the right weather, in terms of a dormant season,” said Anderson. “We do have freezing during the fall and winter months — the roots actually have their best growth period during the fall months.”

She added that all of the feedback from customers has been positive.

“We have customers who come back year after year,” said Anderson. “The people traveling from La Crosse often say it was worth the road trip.”

With more people getting vaccinated and more people wanting to get outside, Mielke and Anderson expect to see a very busy summer.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com