In Loving Memory of Richard E. Currie

At 72 years old, our father had not yet retired. We lost him suddenly in December 2025, following a tragic accident while traveling. Our grief is still very much with us. But so is everything he left behind, in the fields, in the flowers. If he taught us anything, it was to work hard, love with our whole heart, and notice beauty in the natural world.

We are grateful to all who have reached out with kindness and condolences. Peonies are our father's greatest legacy. We are still finding the path forward for his extensive collection of plants. Unfortunately, as we are sure you will understand, it has proven too challenging to arrange a harvest or festival for this season.

Richard Currie was many things – a farmer, a naturalist, a generous and loving soul, a fun and thoughtful father – but above just about all else, he was a man devoted to peonies. For three decades, he poured his life into understanding these remarkable plants: their habits, their needs, their seemingly endless capacity for beauty. That dedication gave our family something rare and wonderful.

Growing up, our home during the spring harvest season was always filled with their fragrance. We inevitably had blooms overflowing every bucket and vase our dad could get his hands on. We spent some of our most cherished childhood days working alongside him in the fields, learning from him row by row. During disbud season, he would pay us a penny for every side bud we pinched, it was an early lesson in both horticulture and the value of careful, patient work.

In his later years, our father found a new kind of joy in sharing what he had built over his career. Opening the fields to the public through the Festival of the Peony was a natural expression of who he was: someone who believed that beauty of this kind deserved to be shared. We are grateful so many of you were able to walk in the peony fields firsthand, and we hope you cherish those memories as we do. In the photos he shared over the years, he would often write how lucky he felt and those messages were almost always accompanied by a picture of a single bloom or a field stretching out in full color. He meant it and shared his gratitude.

He often debated with Andrew whether to grow food or flowers. His position was that the beauty of a flower had an ineffable quality that made life joyous. It took Andrew a long time to understand this, but is slowly coming around to his perspective. There is a particular magic to standing at the head of a row of peonies at dawn, in the quiet before the day begins, preparing to cut. He knew that magic. He lived in it.

We hope you will check back in periodically as we navigate what comes next. And please do not hesitate to reach out at sales@styerspeonies.com.

With love and gratitude,

Andrew, Tessa, Sarah