Somewhere there exists a video of a small Dan Furman, at age 3 or so, tripping around his parents’ nursery in springtime, pointing at red shoots and proclaiming, “Look, that’s a peony. That’s a peony. There’s another peony.”
If Furman didn’t imprint on a peony, it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. His parents, David and Kasha Furman, moved to Thomaston from New Haven in 1988 and began their quest to bring high-quality Chinese peonies to the United States. It was in that environment, at Cricket Hill Garden, that Dan Furman was raised.
Furman, 26, went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in history from Johns Hopkins University. He also learned how to read, write and speak Mandarin Chinese, a skill that comes in handy when Chinese-Americans from Brooklyn and Queens visit the nursery with their parents and grandparents. Within the last year, he began working full time at Cricket Hill, as nursery manager.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In his talk to the Connecticut Horticultural Society Oct. 18 at Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, Furman will describe why peonies are unrivaled in terms of flowers. Their big, lustrous blooms and their fragrance contribute to the plant’s elegance and allure, and a short growing season only enhances the mystery surrounding the genus.
Furman will discuss three kinds of peonies – tree, herbaceous and intersectional (a hybrid cross between tree and herbaceous peonies) – and their culture and propagation, and he will describe some of his favorite cultivars.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He will also share tidbits about the history and cultural significance of the genus.
For example, Chinese people reportedly extracted from peony seeds oil for cooking. The plant’s roots long have been a staple of Chinese medicine. Furman recently supplied some peony blossoms to a tea shop in Madison, and they can also be used to make wine.
In fact, some peony wine he made was fermenting recently. Asked how the process seemed to be going, he said the wine “smells very, very floral.”
Everyone is invited to Furman's talk to the Connecticut Horticultural Society on Oct. 18 (nonmembers pay $10). The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. at Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Dr., West Hartford. Visit www.cthort.org or call 860-529-8713. The Connecticut Horticultural Society, based in Rocky Hill, is a statwide nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the appreciation of gardening. All activities are open to the public.
