peony fail

I thought the Peony seedpods were ready to pick. And almost all the stems looked dried and withered so I thought even if they're not done they're not going to grow any more, so I cut them all off and brought inside the house. It was a disappointment. Most of the pods were black and shriveled, only a few like this nothing plump and healthy like they should be.

And the seeds inside little black bits like specks of dirt, no nice fat seeds. So I guess the weren't ripe yet. Or the plant suffered too much from drought and pulled resources from making seed. I'll have to try again next year.