When I moved into my house years ago, there was a minimal sort of garden. A patch of scraggly lawn, one rose, one peony and a lot of California poppies. This poppy, (Eschscholzia californica), thrives in poor, sandy soil with full sun exposure. And that describes my garden as I found it. Since then, I've enriched the soil, built fences, laid a patio and planted plenty of plants- roses, hydrangeas and annuals. And still the poppies fill my spring and summer with their cheerful color. 
From their comical beginnings,
and as their petals unfurl,
these flowers bring a shot of color into every corner of the garden. Early Spanish settlers of the Southwest called this poppy- 'copa del ora' or 'cup of gold'. There is a legend that when the petals fall to the ground, they turn to gold. If you want California poppies in your garden, sow seeds early in the spring where you want them to grow. These plants have a long taproot and don't transplant well. If they like your garden- you will have them for years as they are a short-lived perennial that self-seeds freely. These photos were taken in mid-May and, if dead-headed, the plants will continue to flower through the summer. But, remember to leave some spent flowers to develop seeds.
I'm not sure when the white variety arrived in my garden but, I'm glad it's here. (I would love the scarlet red variety as well.)
These poppies are quite different from the oriental poppies- still members of the same family but like two sisters. One- elegant, stunning and exotic and the other- fun, casual and carefree.
14 comments:
I love California poppies. Can even grow them sometimes on the Canadian prairie.
They are just beautiful, Blackbird. I've made a note to get some seeds. I think they'd do well here.
I love your new header, so colourful.
Your poppies-photos are beautiful, I love poppies too!
Comical and conical!
Lovely poppies, lovely blog. Thanks for viviting mine.
I must think about planting some here in my garden. I'm sure they would like our summer.
I love them too and they even do me the honour of growing in my cold, wet Welsh garden, bringing me a splash of beautiful Californian sunshine. Lovely photos!
These are lovely, the orange one especially is a gorgeous colour. Must give them a try next year.
They are so gorgeous. I especially love that tangerine colour. Do they work as a cut flower??
Happy weekend!
What a treat to find your lovely blog. And its always fun to discover another blogger from the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is one of my favorite cities.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll stop by again soon.
I love poppies too and have lots of Welsh ones popping up everywhere at last.
It's great to see so many poppy lovers.
I don't think that they do very well as cut flowers, Pamela. Each flower doesn't last long even on the plant. But, I think that the treatment for poppies to use as cut flowers is to burn the cut stem to seal the end.
Wait- just checked and burning the end is for the larger poppies- oriental and opium types. The advice is to cut the ends under water and keep cool. I still just enjoy them outside.
Oh how I miss the California poppies... I live in OH now. They have vibrant, large red poppies here.
I enjoy your blog and will return for visits. ~~~~
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