Topic: Poppy love

[Toots]

This year we have had a magnificent growth and blooming of wild poppies all round the garden.

Our garden is one which is a mix of wild flowers and plants and cultivated,good for birds and wildlife.

Lots like honesty,cranesbill,bluebells etc just have blown in and liked it and stayed.

Many years ago I planted a "wild flower mix" It had some poppies in,and each year a few struggling survivors have made it.

This year I made a point of protecting all possible seedings,defying OH who did not think they were poppies,benign neglect!

The result is very bonny and a delight to see.

I was especially glad when I heard that they are a vanishing species in the wild.

Lets give poppies a chance then! One of our loveliest native flowers and so undemanding,make room for some in your bit! ;D :D

[Granny_Smith]

I have to agree with you Toots - they make such a splash of colour. I understand that poppy seeds can often lie dormant in the soil for years before germinating. Have you ever noticed how they suddenly appear along roadsides when work has been done and the soil has been disturbed.

[Roy Bham UK]

I watched a Bunny Guinnis TV garden prog recently and she took us round her meadow that was full of lovely wild flowers including poppies and pointed out that poppies don’t grow in soil that has not been disturbed/cultivated that maybe why they are disappearing?

Must be why we have them in our little garden all around the palm tree.
www.rrbg06748.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/poptrac.jpg
Still can't get these images to link direct ???

Roy 8)

[Toots]

Hi Granny and Roy.

Yes,the garden was dug and left a long time this year so poppies able to get a grip.I then hand weeded selectively to try to keep the wildies we wanted,and not the sticky willie,chickweed and nettles and  docks etc.(We have *them* on a large patch sloping down away from the house!)

Thank you for the picture.How lovely to have a palm tree Roy! It is too cold and exposed here ,though they do grow on some coastal and island sites in Scotland in the West.

I would like some Welsh poppies too,to add to the variety and colour.Did plant one once but it didn't regrow from seed.Will try again.Toots

[Mrs Ava]

Adore poppies also, and this year, on my new plot which I only finished digging in late spring, just in time to get my corn and squashes in, I have a crop of the frilliest reddest poppies I have ever seen!  I didn't plant them, and there are none to be seen anywhere else on our site so they must have been underground, biding their time, waiting for some movement above, and hey ho, gorgeous!  Have lots in my garden, mostly annuals as I just leave them to themselves and they come up all over and they are easy enough to weed out if there are too many.  Gradually I am acquiring some of the oriental poppies, and these I really do ADORE!

[rosebud]

Hi Toots did you see my seed swap??? I have some real beauties,
they sound the same as EJ really rich red and double.
If you want a few seeds you are very welcome. i shall be sending them out this week,i will have just a few left you can have.
Quite a few people PM me so it seems peeps do still like them i am pleased to say.

[Toots]

Many thanks rosebud,I have PMed you to accept your generous offer!I think I too will build up a poppy corner!

The cats help too as they readily dig up bits of garden,to help poppy seeds find light to germinate and helpfully manure the site too! Heh,heh! ;D

[CotswoldLass]

Agree absolutely.....one of my faves this year is the red poppies that have seeded in a big clump of Alchemilla Mollis - the contrast is stunning.

Also have some wonderful 'shaggy petal' mauve poppies that edge one side of a big perennial bed of all shades of blue/mauve/purple. I didn't try to get it like that, but the poppies obviously picked a spot to show themselves off best!  ;)

[Toots]

Hi Rosebud,the seeds arrived safely today,many thanks and for the delphiniums also,a special surprise! a favourite of mine too.

I am going to dedicate a corner I think and have mainly poppies.This will stop OH muttering when I wail at him not to weed out my precious poppies.Mind I probably will as they do spread and I love the way they can just pop up out of the blue!

Again thank you so much!Toots :D ;)

[Plocket]

I just adore poppies (named my cat Poppy as well!) and love seeing them in the wild as it were. I remember in Kent years ago I saw an almost entirely red field. It looked stunning. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the time.