Peonies bloom fleetingly at the end of spring and start of summer, usually only lasting around 10 days. Inspired by this tweet from Dr Jess Wade, here’s a quick look at the molecule which gives them their colour. There’s more on the pH dependence of anthocyanin colour here.
![Peonies and peonin](https://i0.wp.com/www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Peonies-and-peonin.png?resize=370%2C208&ssl=1)