We'd wanted to get a lot more done in the garden this weekend than actually happened ... and things were held back mostly by the arrival of an intense early summer blast of heat and stagnant air (e.g. no movement), but we still did get some good pics of flowers currently strutting their stuff in the front boulder bed. Of course, these are more examples of Frank's Poppies, and since Fernymoss took pics while I watered last night, we actually got some with water droplets (bonus for Olivia there). The first shot gives a nice overview of what the whole bloom looks like when fully open ... very much peony shaped and just packed with layers of feathery petals. These particular poppies aren't the full-bore exhibitionists about their inner bits that their Oriental cousins are ... they're just a bit more demure, and well, Pink after all!
The second shot should give you a better idea of what the current crop of poppy party-goers looks like after a day or two of celebrating in the sun ... the inhibitions are down, general disrobing has begun, and in another day or so, nothing but the naked reminder will remain. Like peonies, these poppies live up to their fleeting appearance in the garden ... though they will bloom profusely for a week or two, they then get serious about their main item of business, which is producing the densely packed pod of seeds that will carry them through into the following year.
Oh, and they'll provide thousands of seeds to share with others who can give them a new home to colonize (which they will, trust me). The Calendulas and Zebrina Mallows are currently revving up to take their place in a few weeks, and when these are gone, to be replaced by Zinnias, which I just planted behind them tonight, along with a few Four O'Clocks. Though we're getting some of these seeds rather later than usual, I keep having to remind myself just how everything is still 2-3 weeks behind where it should be at this time. In a normal year, these poppies would have been finished and turning crispy by this point ... It continues to be a very interesting season, and we'll see how it turns out!
Photos courtesy of Fernymoss, taken June 16, 2007.
Coming soon! Everyone's favorite: Bee Balm!
4 comments:
Beautiful IVG. I like the second picture the best though, even without the water droplets.
Tell Fernymoss that I think he did a great job with the pictures, and you did a great with along with the pictures.
What FM said ... these flowers are so beautiful IVG. I love the way you described the disrobing ... lol. Fernymoss did a fantastic job!
Sounds like fall in upper Michigan: BURST OF COLOR, then it's gone.
I'll be sure to ping you when it's time for seeds — thanks loads! From your description in the previous post, early- to mid-December sounds about right. We generally get our first frost between mid-Oct and mid-Nov here.
Your poppies are beautiful!
Post a Comment