Poppy Power

If you thought I went overboard with my cosmos photos, well, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Last week, my prettiest poppy of the year opened. It was in a pot I also planted (one of four poppy pots) so I could bring it in before first freeze if I chose. I've been trying for years to get poppies in the garden to come back a second year, and I haven't had much luck. I scatter hundreds of seeds every spring before a big snow, and I scatter again every time we get a good rain. Poppy seeds need sunlight to germinate. I think they must make excellent meals for all kinds of critters because I sure don't get many plants in the garden. The 20 or seeds of different varieties in this particular pot resulted in ONE plant.

So my new mother of pearl pink poppy was a HUGE thrill for me. I'd had two tiny indoor potted poppies a few weeks earlier, and I got a few photos of them, but they were so tiny, and the colors weren't as gorgeous, in my opinion. (Well, the Lauren's purple grape was gorgeous but tiny, and the petals fell off the second day!!!) My experience has been that potted poppies (from seeds) are not as big as poppies I get from the garden centers and transplant into my garden (which extremely rarely come back the following year).

I noticed a second bud forming lower on the stem, so I did something I don't typically do with poppies because I WANT THE SEEDS. I clipped the poppy to encourage the second blossom to grow. Before first frost!!! (Hurry, hurry, hurry!)

This also afforded me the opportunity to shoot lots of creative portraits. I think I shot more than 50 frames of one flower!!! Just wait 'til I dream up a fabric collage to create with this baby!!! I wish I could get a full pot of all the different mother of pearl colors! For now, I'm so content to have the single blossom in a mosaic vase I created several years ago where I can look lovingly up at in while I crochet. Hmmm... more inspiration...

Tweet

Pin It