What’s Blooming {Poppy}

 You may have seen the recent photo (on our Facebook page) I took just the other day of a gorgeous salmon pink Poppy growing in one of the gardens we tend to.  Trust me, the photo doesn’t do it justice!  These bold and billowy blooms command your attention.

Poppies (we’re talking about the ornamental kind here, not those used for edible seed or illegal activity) are a very attractive and easy to grow flower of both annual and perennial varieties. The large, crepe-like petals (4-6, depending on variety) come in all shades and sit atop stems that can grow up to 2 1/2 – 4 feet high.  The flowers only last about a week, but are showstoppers until their petals open flat around the blue pollen coasted stamen and eventually drift to the ground.  They will also reseed themselves in the same manner.

Besides adding punches of color to a landscape, they make great for great cut flowers as well.  Though they have long been used as symbols of both death and sleep, Poppies are a popular flower found in the markets during the spring season.  If you cultivate them in your yard, be sure to cut them in the early morning when the buds are just barely unfolding for a long lasting bloom in the vase.  Once the season for Poppies has petered out, the markets will still have their pods available.  They are used as botanical accents to add texture to design.  A plant of many uses!