Folks in Bangor expect a burst of color this weekend

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The rain may clear out this weekend, just in time for a colorful tradition to return.

The Peony Society of Maine’s garden tours will be in full bloom this weekend.

“There’s a lot of people that think peonies are hard to grow and they can’t grow ‘em and you know. But there’s no reason for anyone to not have a peony,” said Roger Lycette, member of the Peony Society.

“We’ve been one of the starting gardens on the Peony Society of Maine, and it’s one of their major fundraisers. So, people come here that want to see the peonies and we just are glad to open up our gardens. The Peony Society was founded in the year 2000. And it was started by I think 10 People that love beanies they got together over a kitchen table and decided that they wanted to have a group,” Lycette explained.

Now members share their gardens with the public for donations that go to sharing the love of peonies with others by donating peonies to various organizations around Maine.

“We have over 300 different peonies, some of them are duplicates. But anyway, we’ve been gardening here for 25 or 30 years. My wife and I work real hard. It’s, it’s a labor of love. We love working in the garden swathes of us, and it’s a pleasure and a joy to see people come and enjoy what we’ve done,” Lycette said.

Although the weather has been a little gray and damp, it seems to be the perfect combination to produce vibrant colors.

Lycette said, “Peonies do their own thing. They like cold weather and when it gets hot, they open up and go by real fast so when they do open up. hey will really be gorgeous and beautiful. This rain and cool weather will make them even better than they would have been with the hot weather. So, it just would have to wait for them. I gone out and talk to him said ‘Hey ladies, you got to open up for the tour’ and I seemed like they just started listening to me,” Lycette said. “I say that if you’ve got a bare spot in your yard you need to have a peony there.”

For more information visit their website or Facebook page.

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