(http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1830/poppybudka3.th.jpg) (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=poppybudka3.jpg)
My oriental poppies - (this one's about 10" tall) - don't usually get to this stage until late April/early May :o Down here on the south coast we may miss out on the threatened snow but probably not the promised 'arctic blast' - do you think the poor things will survive?
Grandma, mine are about that stage too, if not a bit shorter and when i noticed the other day, i had to do a quick double take as they are never that far on at this time of the year :o
The only thing is if they flower too soon and its still windy there is not much hope of them being in bloom too long which is such a shame as they are such special flowers.
You're right, Honeybee - would be awful if they got blown to pieces in their prime. (Or frosted :o :o!) They are so lovely! Mine are usually in bloom at the same time as my bearded irises - but those are only about 8" tall at the mo with no signs of buds yet, of course. Back to the poppies - I find that, if I chop the plants right down to an inch or two high after they've finished their spring flowering, I get a second (smaller) flush of flowers in late summer. Do you do that? It's worth a go! ;)
Yes i keep reading that you can do that, but so far have never had the courage :)
Maybe this year I might try, as it would be so lovely to have a second flowering.
Thanks for reminding me :-*
Heres a pic of some of my poppies that I think was from last year.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/Honeybee3003/f72bf827.jpg)
Beautiful poppies honeybee, i'm jealous!
Aren't they fabulous! Just love that brilliant scarlet colour! I grew mine from seed and have a lovely mix of colours from white through pinks/peachy shades - (my avatar is one of the deeper peachy ones) - to orange, scarlet and deep red. O and I also have a sort of pinky/lilac-ey/silvery one. (Super photo too, Honeybee! I can almost feel the warm sunshine! :-*)