Friday, April 16, 2010

Poppies Bloom Day

Beginning on March 23, my garden has exploded in blooms like it has never seen before. The biggest stars have been the poppies, both red and pink. I love all stages of the poppies: from bud to seed head.This pink one grew from seeds that Joan Hilbig, a Green Corn Project gardener, gave to me and to CTG producer Linda Lehmuvistra. Joan wanted her pink poppies to spread all over Austin. I didn't have very many blooms last year so I didn't have many seeds to pass along. This year I've had a lot more blooms and hope to fulfill Joan's goal.The red poppies came from several sources: Patty Leander, Boggy Creek Farm, and the Natural Gardener. I might have also snagged a few seed heads while walking in my neighborhood, but in case you live in my neighborhood I don't want to out myself as a seed head rustler. I know what can happen to rustlers.I love how this poppy grew up perfectly in the middle of this iron bird. (In case you're wondering, I bought the iron bird and the dragonfly below, from a vendor at Wimberly Market Days, which, for the uninformed like me, is not a farmers' market. I kept asking where the vegetables were, but alas there weren't any.)

I do have some other flowers blooming, like these bluebonnets surrounded by volunteer clover: but the standouts remain the poppies: I love looking out the kitchen window to see this stand. From the changing table in the nursery, I can see another field of them.

Even though my backyard has never looked more flower-ific, the blooms are still just a wonderful backdrop for the cutest bloom in my life: Who knew becoming a mother could turn me into such a cheeseball?

14 comments:

  1. Call me a cheeseball, too. He is the cutest!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful photos! Can't believe I haven't tried poppies yet. I really think they're stunning. And I'm sure that good-looking son appreciates being photographed with such good-looking flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, put me on the cheeseball list, too! Sweet pics of all sorts, Vertie! And I have to admit, I have pink poppy envy. Beautiful shots.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Okay, you ARE such a new and uncharacteristic cheeseball, but it's adorable and so is Jack. I almost can't remember which flowers you posted about because I keep seeing his cute little head. But the poppies are lovely, too, and I like the pink ones very much. Happy GBBD!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so thrilled about Joan's pink poppies! This is what gardening is all about. And the best thing about this year is your darling little boy. Be as cheeseball as you want; that's what moms are for!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vertie, that is definitely the most beautiful bloom of all. Jack really is a very photogenic young man. As lovely as the poppies are, they can't hold a candle to him!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cute little sprout and how lucky he is to have his birthday in the spring when all the wildflowers can celebrate for him.

    I've been watching the "is it pink or red" poppy conversation and decided that mine are neither. I have some peony-flowering poppies that are deep rose pink and some (from @HumanFlower) which are pale salmon. These were all from the same seed but not only are the flowers different color, the foliage and the shape of the plants are different.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wish I had taken photos of my babies in the flowers. Of course it was the wrong time of the year. precious baby. I though you could only get done in Texas if you had barbed wire cutters in your pocket! Now that iron work is looking like Bob might have made it. See ESP's last post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Babies will do that to the most non-sentimental person, Vertie. Enjoy all those cheeseball moments.

    My passalong poppies from Linda--whether they were the pink or the red I was never quite sure---have been finished for several weeks. Interesting that yours are only now in full bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That baby is the cutest thing ever! Congratulations! Cuter than a poppy even.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's one sweet little beansprout...the poppies are stunning though, really!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It does Vertie and instantly! Jack is going to love his cheeseball momma like nothing else! gail

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am thirsty for gardening blogs with pretty photos. Yours hit the spot; don't know which is prettier, the little bundle of joy or the spectacular display of poppies!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The most gorgeous photo is of course the last one. So precious!

    ReplyDelete