The white poppies are blooming! They have been for the past several weeks and I regret that it has taken me this long to post the pictures. The plants have grown nearly six feet tall and the blooms are just brilliant and stunning to behold. The purple spots bleed slightly into the white giving the blooms just a hint of purple-pinky hue.
This is a shot of the rockery garden I grew from seed and planted late May 2005. Cosmo Daisies are blooming along with Lupine, Petunias and pansies. This garden can be seen from the road as you drive into the downtown area and already has gotten a lot of positive comments. Out of the blue comes green.
A friend gave me seed for the tall poppies growing in this garden. These have grown so tall that several plants have been blown down during recent wind storms. The blooms are amazing and attract lots of different insect life.
Poppies blooming looking towards the wood pile.
Poppies blooming in corner of the house.
A close up of a poppy and a cosmos daisy. Once I was looking at the poppy blooms and noticed a bumblebee oddly hanging off one of the petals. It wasn't moving and yet seemed stuck there. On closer inspection right above the bee was a white spider with two purpley-pink spots on its abdomen, just like the poppies! It was holding its fresh kill very still, perhaps in case I might be a predator. Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo.
Pansies in bloom.
Asian Poppies in bloom. These have now died back but they were quite gorgeous in their prime. I think this composition will make a lovely painting.
The orange poppies were so prodigious that they were encroaching on this rose bush which still managed to bloom with lovely pink roses. This bush is now notable because we spread Bruce's stepmom's ashes at its feet. I've been calling them Maude's roses ever since.
This is the yellow rose I bought from Home Depot this spring. As you can see it produces a sumptuous and fragrant rose with pink tones. I'm very happy with this bare root purchase; the trick is to buy them the earliest they get them into the stores and then follow planting directions exactly.
Purple Irises blooming by the fountain.
I was so pleased to find this pink geranium blooming that I'd planted in my marigold planter. This was a cutting from a plant I'd left outside in the ground and did not survive the winter. I now know that the ones in the ground need to be taken up and potted in order to survive the very wet and cold winter.
The Asian poppies developed many strong stems, topped with these delightful seed pods with velvety purple caps. I will dry these so I can gather the seed for next year.
This is perhaps my most favorite shot of the Asian poppies. The wall of the house behind makes a nice textural background for the brilliant and luminous orange color.