So, every night, I go out and put a whole watering can’s worth of water on Henry. And then I wander around the yard looking at all the things that are coming up. I try to refrain from taking pictures every evening, because I understand that it may not be as exciting for you as it is for me to see the same things over and over again.
But let us just say, for the record, that I have taken a shit ton of pictures of my crocuses (a flower much improved in my estimation by the awesomeness of it in my bed) (um, not like that). Have you, dear reader, noticed any peonies in my crocuses? Me neither. Were there any peonies in that bed last year? No. Did I plant any peonies in that bed? Certainly not.
But People of Earth, I’m standing at my magnolia, watering away, when I look over and see what, from across the yard, looks like a tiny tree. And I say “Oh, hell no, I am not starting to have to pull trees out of my flowerbeds already! I will burn this yard down.” Which, of course, I will not, since I haven’t even seen what the new daffodils look like yet and I just bought a magnolia.
But I would go get my clippers.
So, I go over to see what this motherfucker is.
And I realize, it’s not a tree at all.
It’s a peony.
In about the same state as the peonies in my back yard, except this guy is alone in the front yard.
How did he get there?
Can peonies spread by wind? But, even if so, how did it spread by wind kitty corner across my house? I’m supposed to believe a seed went OVER my house?
Is this what all the mysterious digging in the bed was? Not intentionally digging up irises, but squirrels planting peonies?
And what can I do with an army of gardening squirrels if that proves to be the case?
I mean, people, will they weed for me?!
Tiny Cat Pants 
And how did the peony get up so quickly without me noticing it? The whole thing is strange.
All I know about peonies is that they’re really beautiful in Japanese paintings.
But I’d worry about gardening squirrels-one of the cats was watching me garden once and decided either to mock me or show me how to do it right. She turned around and fertilized-pooped- and mulched-threw up some grass. And gave me a look and sauntered away.
So who knows what squirrels would do-beyond plant random peonies and eat bulbs.
I found that as I started clearing old brush and shrubbery from my gardens that hostas and peonies that I’ve never seen before started coming up. Is this in an open area, or was it covered before?
It wasn’t covered, but you know, I did go into this bed last fall and dig up all the irises, put down a layer of fresh soil, and replant my irises (and put in the crocuses at that point).
I wonder if just stirring the ground and adding some dirt might have caused an old peony to spring out of dormancy?