I love how things can happen out of exploration or surprise. A couple of years ago, a friend introduced me to peonies by giving me a bundle of pink ones. This was the beginning of my love for these delightful flowers. Then while talking to a new friend about going to Filoli Gardens to see the Tulips, she suggested I check out Nola’s Iris Nursery in the east hills of San Jose. So I headed up Sierra Road to check it out, but it was closed. I was a little disappointed but looked on my phone for a hiking trail nearby and discovered a peony nursery up the road on the map. It was a heavenly place full of a wide variety of peonies. I spent a good deal of time taking pictures there. Sometime after stumbling upon CharMarron Peony Nursery, I went to Trader Joe’s to get my weekly groceries and found bundles of Peony Tulips. A new flower to me that I had not heard of until seeing it in the grocery store. Serendipity led me to this flower. I took a bunch home to enjoy and immediately went to work painting these beauties.