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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!
This morning, I thought I'd put another quick example of the Papaver orientalis inner bits up just to show another view of just how colourful and complex these short-lived blooms are in the garden. Though the focus isn't perfect in this shot, what really wowed me about this particular picture is how the petals look like a virtual wall of flames behind the landing pad in the foreground. The only thing that could have improved this one is if Fernymoss had been able to capture a bee at work on the pollen, but as any photographer of flower details can attest, the ideal shot comes but rarely in the real world. (Unless your name happens to be Olivia!) And much as with the enterprise of gardening itself, some days you just have to content yourself with what you have at hand in a given season, which in itself is a powerful creator of memories ... signposts along a natural cycle that with careful observation, imprints itself in one's mind.
Photo courtesy of Fernymoss, taken May 30, 2007
Postscript: The Ottawa Senators won 5-3 tonight in Anaheim against the Ducks! (Who could root for a team called the Ducks totally escapes my comprehension...) They're back in the running for the Stanley Cup and let's hope the Sens can come from behind! I know it would mean a great deal to a lot of Canadians in Ottawa to reclaim the Cup after some 80 years. Best of luck to the Sens on Tuesday!!
After a long day of steady rain yesterday, it looks like we're in for another round today ... Now, I'm usually not one to complain about rain, being the gardening soul that I am, but we're really in need of a break right now. The ground is more than saturated, and we're looking at a serious chance of flash flooding Friday. Though our neighborhood is in no imminent danger, the Raccoon River (infamous from the 93 flood) has been at, or over flood stage at Fleur Drive for a few days now, so it looks like a wet weekend coming up. We're way behind in the spring planting and we have veggies, perennials and seeds screaming to be put in the ground! So, I'm taking a much-needed week of vacation away from work this coming week and there's way more than I think I can do, but somehow, we always manage to pull it together. Wish us luck in the coming days!
The Dragon Arum featured yesterday continues to wow us and everyone else who sees it, and I can report today that the rotten roadkill stench has largely dissipated already. We're almost disappointed about that, but at least we don't have to worry about keeping the dining room windows open! In an interesting development, the maroon/red cowl has morphed into a deep shade of purple now and we're seeing more changes down near the base of the bloom, where it has lightened up a bit in coulour. It is indeed an amazing plant that continues to make us marvel each day at its complexity ... I'll have more of it to show very soon, though today looks like it will be a bad day for getting any new photos.
So ... today's treat is one of our Papaver species we have planted in the back garden. This is a specimen of Papaver orientalis (Oriental poppy), though I've long forgotten the variety we planted. It's a spectacular large blooming perennial poppy that produces several brilliant orange flowers each year who, unfortunately, usually suffer the same fate as peonies... just as it bursts into bloom, rains come to strip the petals away post haste ... so we savor this one quickly because it never lasts long.
So, in honor of my dear friend Olivia (who needs a bit of cheering up due to recent Stanley Cup losses), I thought I'd put up a poppy "striptease." This series begins with this shy beauty's chaste, fan-like pose in the breeze ... only to progress to a bit more of the "tease" part as she warms to the gaze of the camera ... then undulates right up to her shameless exhibitionist pose of her delicious, yet guarded, inner bits.
Funny thing, isn't it, that for these flowers, it's all about the sex? And how each species approaches the reproductive deed in different ways, employing diverse ruses to attract just the right insects to make sure that they can endure in future seasons ... bees are more than happy to oblige most species, but for others (such as the Arum) nothing less than a carrion fly will do. Not that I lie awake at night pondering the sex lives of flowers, but it has always been a source of wonder for me to contemplate all the various tactics flowers use to make sure they retain their place in the garden they call home.
Photos courtesy of Fernymoss, taken on May 30, 2007.
An entry from Sunday in The Carpetbagger Report, got me to thinking tonight, after I made that last post, about the symbolism of poppies, especially with regard to the Memorial Day (or Canadian Remembrance Day) holiday. When I was in grade school, I remember that each spring, not long before school let out, we were asked to make small contributions to buy little crepe paper wired stem poppies made by disabled veterans in Veterans' Hospitals across the country. Being the fan of crepe paper that I've always been, I was eager to scrape together my change to buy a few of these to wear as a patriotic symbol of my respect for soldiers past ... and as I got older, we were taught to read Lt. Colonel John McCrae's (a most memorable Canadian) famous elegiacal World War I poem, In Flanders Field. Though it may seem a bit hackneyed and schmaltzy to contemporary sensibilities, it still packs a truly nostalgic and powerful punch as a tribute to those killed in warfare. That's where the symbolism of the little crepe paper poppies came from.
Think about it ... it took the lyrical musings of a Canadian soldier who witnessed war first hand and watched his comrades die violently in battle to immortalize this most brutal (previous) war to US Americans. Where were the poems written by US Americans? To my knowledge, they don't exist, and if anyone can point me to some commemorating such deaths, please correct me in the comments.
Of course, all this got me to thinking about our soldiers now fighting and dying on a daily basis in Iraq. How these young lives are being cut short, crippled and otherwise permanently altered by the conflict in which we currently find ourselves engaged ... all for a handful of metaphorical magic beans bargained for by the dubiously appointed Child Emperor Megalomaniac in Chief currently occupying the seat of power in this, the U S and A. It truly saddens me, not just for the lives lost and the lives no longer to be lived "normally," but for what our country has become. Peddlers of aggression, mass death and lies, a xenophobic population of paranoid citizens who have been trained, since 2001, to fear those who might be of a different faith and skin colour. Catapulting this propaganda to perpetuate the war has sickened me, and especially when that fabled "28% base" continues to promulgate those well-worn lies.
More than Lt. Colonel McCrae's poem, these contemporary circumstances really sadden me ... Every time I see yet another update on the death toll, and yes, Mr. Bush, it IS a death toll --not a tax you have conveniently renamed and have defamed-- not just another of "The Fallen," I think sadly of those young lives snuffed out in their prime, never to reach their full potential. Yes, not all of our soldiers are as worthy as others to be held in such high esteem, but no matter who they are, they have been sent into battle (and for whatever underlying personal reasons they may have had) for the most spurious of reasons. All the proponents of the neo-con PNAC project have had their way, and we now see just what poisonous fruits their pipe dreams have begotten us.
I clearly have been, and remain, a vehement opponent of this trumped up war. But as I was inculcated as a child to admire and respect unquestioningly past soldiers lost in wars, I do recognize the work they do (and yes, it IS work, no matter how we choose to define it), is undertaken at the command of a government that they serve without question. That's where this nation has gone so egregiously wrong. Those who respect our soldiers, yet question the mission they have been given, are characterized as "traitors" and "white flag wavers," and no matter how much John McCain may protest otherwise, they have been sent on a lethal fool's errand. For no other reason if at all, they have been most grievously abused and misled. Like much of our nation, they thought they were answering a call to preserve our freedom and ended up in a confusing conflict that the powers currently in charge would prefer to continue indefinitely ... to serve selfish ends, to enrich those who hold themselves at a comfortable and safe distance from it all, much preferring to let others do battle for their own self-serving, venal interests.
This unjust and illegal war must end. Sooner, rather than later, if we are to preserve a generation of young men and women. The scars of those who return will haunt us if we do not acknowledge the colossal mistake that has been made by a gang of ideologues and thugs who have steamrolled the US public for the past five years. And for those who have perished in the folly that is this war so far, I can only offer condolences to their families ... I can't say thankful that they have served this particular purpose, but I can offer them my gratitude for having bravely fought for a cause they undoubtedly thought was just ... even if they were sorely misled by their leaders.
I support the troops --if for no other reason-- because they have been misled. Not all are pure, that is sure, but at some deeper level, they did believe that what they were doing was right. It's a lot easier to forgive some missteps from those who are commanded, than those who would put them in such a dangerous situation under what have now been proven to be fictional circumstances.
This poppy is for you. Hold it near and remember where we have been. Let us vow to end this war and prevent such future escapades, for the benefit of not only this fine nation of people, but for the world at large.
To conclude with Lt. Colonel McCrae's words ....
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
It's time folks ... ITMFA, indeed! It's only the just thing to do ...
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. 
