Blushing Poppies

When Lee and I first bought our house 20 years ago, one of our favorite things about it was the secluded back yard, which included a large flower garden with a wide variety of perennials.

I was pretty much a novice gardener back in those days, and at first I didn’t even know what some of the flowers were, so I spent a fair amount of time looking them up in gardening books and magazines.

Since those early years, our perennial garden has evolved and changed. I’ve moved plants around, added new ones, lost others, weeded, added and taken down various borders, weeded, tried to keep the dogs from walking on (or nibbling) the plants, weeded.. . . .and so it goes.

I’m a more seasoned (albeit somewhat less enthusiastic) gardener now, and have accepted the fact that even once you get your garden just the way you like it, it’s not necessarily going to stay that way, even if it’s all perennials!

But over the years, there has been one constant in our perennial garden, and that is the Oriental Poppies. We didn’t plant the first ones; they were here when we bought our house. So, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I saw those fuzzy frilly leaves start popping out of the ground that first Spring we were here. (I wasn’t entirely sure they weren’t some kind of strange weed!)

Indeed, it was quite an experience to see how quickly and how large those distinctive leaves grew, and then to watch the buds evolve as well, and finally to see the huge bright orange-red blossoms open up for the first time.

To my delight, the Oriental Poppies come back every year. I don’t know if they’re all the same plants . . . somehow I doubt it. In fact, every year there seem to be a few more plants scattered throughout the garden. Lee and I have come to expect the annual splash of bright color in our perennial garden, and we’re never disappointed, even after the harshest of winters.

Although the bright orange-red Oriental Poppies were the original ones in our garden, and the most prolific, I have added a couple of other varieties over the years. We now have a few white and some peachy pink colored Oriental Poppies called Maidenblush.

I’m happy to say that it’s the time of year again when are poppies are starting to bloom. And this last week, our very first poppies (the Maidenblush variety) began to open. Since I was lucky enough to be able to get some nice photos of their progression, I thought I’d share a few with you . . . .

Thanks once again for dropping by, and enjoy your Sunday, Everyone!

I hope to see you again next week . . I still have some Blog Awards to catch up on!