Poppies for Summer Thursday

in Garden Focus by Britt — June 10, 2010 at 2:41 am | 2 comments

Over the past month and a half or so I’ve been on the photographic-prowl for Poppies.  They come in nearly every color, but Blue may just be my favorite.  Yellows are pretty swank too.  Imagine a blue and yellow bouquet!

Although the pink ones are some of the best to photograph, how often do you come upon a field of blue poppies?  Not often.  I came upon these below at Longwood gardens in Pennsylvania just the other week.

To me, red poppies are like little flames of summer.

Despite how beautiful the cray paper petals are I am transfixed by the even cooler buds!  They are fascinating.

As they grow the petals evolve into furry little petal buds.

There is a magnificence in a poppy’s structure that is superbly offset by its winged petals.

And when they are in full bloom, boy what a site!  One of my favorites is the poppy-flowered anemone.  This one below is called Mister Fokker.

In every color poppies are lovely.  According to Wikipedia there are numerous types including:

• Papaver – corn poppy, Opium poppy, Oriental poppy, Iceland poppy, and about 120 other species
• Eschscholzia – California poppy and relatives
• Meconopsis – Welsh poppy, Nepal poppy, and relatives
• Stylophorum – Celandine-poppy or wood-poppy
• Argemone – Prickly-poppy
• Romneya – Matilija poppy and relatives
• Canbya – Pygmy-poppy
• Stylomecon – Wind-poppy
• Arctomecon – Desert bearpaw-poppy
• Hunnemannia – Tulip poppy
• Dendromecon – Tree poppy

It’s late Spring and poppy time.  Next time you see one.  Think about getting up close and personal.

It’s a great bloom to photographically explore.  I captured this one at Monticello this past weekend.

You don’t have to traverse the world to find these great gems, sometimes you just need to visit a local florist!

Hope you are having a wonderful week and looking forward to a great weekend…

‘Til Tomorrow…

Britt : )

Related posts:

1. The first official day of Summer!
2. Community Gardens by guest blogger Karon Flage!
3. A Perfect Bloom for The Photo Garden Bee!
4. Part IV: The Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens
5. My Hydrangea Quest!

Tags: Feature featured Longwood Gardens Monticello poppies Poppy