Planted poppy seeds today, only four months late. Papaver orientale ‘Brilliant’ in the hot border; Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’ in the blue slope and on either side of the climbing rose ‘Generous Gardener’ in the back. P. somniferum ‘Hungarian blue breadseed’ in the bed by the front walk, except for one more patch of ‘Lauren’s Grape’ closest to the acanthus.
Also planted two P. orientale ‘Allegro’ transplants in the hot border a few weeks ago.
It’s Christmas Day and it’s 80 degrees. Forecast doesn’t call for anything below about 45 for the next week.
The plants have decided to get on with it. Narcissus cantabricus, which I only planted at Thanksgiving one month ago, started blooming today, a month sooner than expected.
Narcissus cantabricus
The winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, has started blooming. Its lemon scent is detectable whenever I pass by.
And the Cyclamen coum also have begun to bloom, about six or seven weeks ahead of schedule.
The flowering quince, Chaenomeles sp., has been blooming for a month now. It’s beginning to trade its flowers for new leaves.
And finally, the Daphne is about to show off. When it blooms, no one will notice the Lonicera.
Lots of my friends are enjoying this weather, but it depresses me. While one Christmas data point does not a trend make, I have lived in this area the better part of 30 years and I remember when it was never warm enough to wear sandals and shorts as we took out the holiday trash. I have spent the past ten years working in the garden on New Year’s Day, needing nothing much warmer than jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Looks like this year will be the same, unless it’s raining.
I guess that any day spent in the garden cannot be too melancholy. Whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope it is a happy one.
I’ve been on Poppy Watch for a week.
Poppy bud, May 12
Every day I watched as the bud got fatter, taller, and rose higher above the foliage. Then finally, yesterday morning I opened the blinds in the living room and beheld my own personal miracle:
Alas, I have no idea whether this is the Hungarian blue breadseed poppy or ‘Lauren’s Grape.’ I planted both, and they seem to look very similar. If anyone out there can make a definitive identification, please let me know.
My first poppy flower, day 2.
Excuse me, please, while I go celebrate.
If you read much gardening literature, you’ll eventually come across some plant for which the consensus seems to be that anyone can grow it, it’s totally foolproof, and yet you, no matter how hard you try, cannot get the job done.
For me, for the longest time, it was poppies.
Oriental Poppies, by Greenlamplady (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Claude Monet [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Poppy Field in Argenteuil, by Claude Monet. {{PD-1923}} – published before 1923 and public domain in the US.
![By Photo by and (c)2008 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man). Co-attribution must be given to the Chanticleer Garden. (Self-photographed) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Poppy_Meconopsis_sp_Pair_1000px.jpg)
Himalayan blue poppy, photographed at Chanticleer Garden, Wayne PA, USA. Photo by and (c)2008 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man). Co-attribution must be given to the Chanticleer Garden. (Self-photographed) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons.
They don’t need watering, except what Mother Nature will bring.
Well, Catherine did not fail me. Barring a tornado, hurricane, or direct lightning strike to the spot, I am about to witness the bloom of my first poppy ever.
I don’t know what it’s going to be. I’ve scattered in Hungarian blue breadseed poppies, ‘Lauren’s Grape,’ and a locally sourced mix of pinks, purples, and whites.
Timing your seeding seems to be very important as well. These were sown about the first week of November. I sowed some more in December and those are coming along, but are quite small. Perhaps the advent of summer tropical weather will hasten their growth.
I tell you, I’m anticipating this flower like the British press anticipated the first peek at Princess Charlotte. It will probably suffer sunburn from camera flashes once it does appear.
Hurrah!
Last year, I grew cotton as an ornamental. My plants weren’t impressive, but they did flower and set seed, thus letting me have another shot this year.
A bit of my homegrown harvest.
I started them very early this year, and will pot them on and move them to my cold frame in a few weeks.
Cotton seedlings started in Keurig cups.
Cotton requires a long growing season, which is not a problem here, but I plan to experiment with starting some crops early under pre-heated soil (which we discussed this week on GardenChat), and cotton will be one of my test subjects.
The main challenge to growing cotton well, I think, may be its hungry nature. I’m planning to plant it this year near roses and other greedy plants, so I can concentrate my inputs in a few key locations.
What plants are you experimenting with this season?
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