Just Poppy-ed Up!

Day 298: Look what just "poppy-ed" up in the Barren Wasteland! Last fall, a Parkie friend who is now at Olympic NP sent me a small bag of seed from the poppies she has growing along her hellstrip. I've admired them for years in the photos she posts, but I thought they were the traditional Flanders poppies, i.e., solid red. What a delightful surprise to find out that they are closer to vermilion, and that they have a white picotee edge! She sent them in the typical "pepper shaker" pods, which I crushed and broadcast in a prepared area where I know poppies do well. However, only a few of the seeds were viable, but the few which are now developing buds should be enough to re-seed themselves until they fill their dedicated space. Thank you, Lee and Pam!

Shirley And Bud

Day 271: If you've been following along for any time, you'll know that I have a fondness for black flowers: tulips, hellebore, hollyhocks, iris and so on. At my former home, I had black Shirley poppies just outside my door, but having not anticipated a move, I didn't think to gather seeds the autumn before I moved. Only this year, I found them available in a single-colour packet (as opposed to being in a mix), so of course I had to add them to the rampant chaos of the Barren Wasteland where they will be allowed to re-seed lavishly. Also known as "corn poppies," the Shirley takes its common name from the English parish where William Wilks served as vicar. An adept horticulturist, Rev. Wilks hybridized Papaver rhoeas to produce a number of varieties, largely in shades of red and pink. Work by his successors led to other colours, including picotee (bordered petals) types and my much-loved black. Shirley and Bud make a handsome couple, don't you think?

Hovering On Winter's Edge

Makeup Day (last one!) 13: Today, I discovered a rather unusual visitor in my garden: a hoverfly, aka "tiger fly." Normally something I associate with the high country and its dual attractors of Sitka Valerian and Rosy Spiraea, this wayward critter nevertheless exhibited the species' fondness for pink, and spent quite some time engaged in exploring all the nooks and crannies of a floppy Shirley poppy. Was he driven here by a falling barometer, or blown off course by the rising winds? In any event, I hope he finds a safe place to spend the night for despite his resemblance to something which might give you a nasty sting, Hoverfly is an innocent being and a vital pollinator.

With this entry, we conclude four calendar years of 365 Caws. I got a bit off in my numbering, hence the "makeup days" to bring this blog back to its starting date of October 14. Seasons willing and "the creek don't rise," I hope I may continue to entertain my readers with at least another year of essays, photos and ramblings.

Busy Bees!

Day 340: What's the latest buzz? You'd have known the front-page news was poppies if you'd walked past my garden this morning. The honeybees were having a heyday in the Shirleys, up to five at once at the center of a blossom, frantically working gathering pollen. I've never seen them as busy. What was it about the poppies? They ignored the lavender and the Livingston daisies, didn't give a glance to the Nigella or Globe Gilia. Their attention was focused solely on the Shirleys. Seeing them so busy made me glad I had another obligation this morning which precluded joining a work party at the site where I was stung three weeks ago!

Shirley Poppy

Day 310: Shirley Poppies are your grandmother's poppy. Smaller than Oriental Poppies and with a much wider color range, they are easy to grow and will reseed themselves freely if your kids don't pick all the "pepper shakers" at season's end. They come in both single and double varieties (single shown here). This old-fashioned flower is guaranteed to brighten any scatter-garden. Heck, I don't even mind that some of mine are pink.

Hirsute

Day 195: Last year, I threw some mixed poppy seeds out into the garden, not really knowing what to expect. Could have been Iceland, could have been Shirley...the only thing I knew was that they weren't the big Oriental poppies I rank among the most persistent of weeds. Ever try to root Oriental poppies out of your flower bed? I wanted mine somewhere else because they hung over the sidewalk and were so huge, I had to navigate around them. It took at least half a dozen years before I'd eradicated the last of them, save for one I relocated to the back yard where it can grow with abandon. But all that aside, I like Shirley poppies and Iceland poppies and those other delicate, papery-petalled small varieties, but after I tossed the seed packets away, I promptly forgot what types I'd sowed.

Nothing came up last summer and I assumed the seeds had been eaten by the birds who seem to like to follow right along behind me when I plant. Well, apparently they missed a couple. Won't be long now before the species mystery is solved!