Friday, April 24, 2009

First Poppy of the Season


I am always happy to see the return of one of my favorite flowers in the whole world....the humble Poppy.




This beautiful Salmon colored Iceland poppy is the first to bloom. The fun thing is that it was also the last poppy of the season in my garden last fall. You can see how it looked back then in the post Icey Iceland Poppy. There is also information there about the variety and seed source.





A close-up of the intricate center. I love all Poppies, but this one is a favorite for it's delicate look and lovely pastel color.



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"As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them. "

Henry Ward Beecher



17 comments:

Victoria Williams said...

Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hi Connie~~ Mr. Beecher-Stowie's words are so apropos. Old fashioned flowers will always be in fashion.

I love your first and last poppy.

Chris said...

Lovely flower and great photos!

Unknown said...

I'm a humongus poppy fan, so seeing this fills me with great joy. It'll be about a month before we see the first poppy here, but it's okay. We're on our way to really being in the growing season.

garden girl said...

How pretty Connie! I love poppies.

In all the shade we have in our garden, celandine poppies are the only kind that bloom here, and just yesterday the first sunny bloom of the season opened.

sweetbay said...

I love Iceland Poppies, they are so showy. Beautiful shots!

Heather said...

Poppies are so nice and carefree. They never ask for much, just a little water and someone to look at them. Very nice!

joey said...

I adore poppies also, Connie, and yours is a beauty ... happy to note spring is well on its way when the popppies pop!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Beautiful poppy photos! Your garden is way ahead of mine, I planted some peony (sometimes called bread seed poppies) poppy seed last weekend, it was really cold when I planted them. I have heard that their seed should be planted when there is still snow on the ground.

Pheasant are beautiful birds! We have them in Iowa, I see them in the country but have never seen one in town.

Jean Campbell said...

Iceland poppies are among my favs, but they are winter plants here, wilting away in our hot days. The Peony poppies are done, leaving great seed heads. Corn poppies are in full flower. California poppies seem to feel at home here. I'm a poppy fan.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Pretty poppy!

Beth said...

Love the limey green center to this poppy. I'm growing the California variety this year.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I'm planting poppies this year. Those papery, almost transparent blooms look so delicate yet are quite tough. I love all the different varieties. What a great color on yours.
Marnie

Catherine said...

The only poppy to come up in my winter sowing is the Pink ruffled poppy, sadly. I'm not sad about that one, just sad that no others decided to come up. Your pics are perfect! Hope you are feeling fit as a fiddle these days.

Miranda Bell said...

Hi Connie - sorry it's been a while - love the photo of your first poppy - I'm certainly with you on this one - our first one came out last week - a beautiful salmon-pink Oriental Poppy (pic on my recent blog posting!) Would you be interested in swapping a few seeds as I don't have the Icelandic Poppies here and always fun trying new things! Let me know. Hope you're enjoying your gardening and all the work I know goes into it at this time of year! Miranda

Jan said...

Oh Connie, those poppies are just gorgeous. I wish I could have some luck growing poppies. I don't know why I can't seem to keep them around. Your photos are fantastic! I also love the quote by Henry Ward Beecher...just perfect for this time of year, and I totally agree with him!! (If only I could successfully GROW all of those flowers!!) Happy Spring to you, dear Connie!!! Jan

Susie said...

That is a nice, soft color. Poppies are great!