Oriental Poppies

Hello Friends!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love poppies of all kinds and they bring me much happiness and joy.  Right now, the blousiest, most beautiful Papaver Orientalis, or Oriental poppies, are beginning to bloom in my garden.  Not only do they bring a fabulous splash of bold colour where they bloom, there's the added bonus that the bees love them too.

This was my first ever Oriental, Coral Sea.  Last Autumn, I thought I may have lost it as a careless handyman and his {very unable} assistant lifted a baby boulder {which took two to manage} and instead of putting it to one side, or on the wall, recklessly dumped it in the border, smack bang on top of my Coral Sea!  I did not discover this until after they'd left and the damage was done.

How could they do this?  It is far too big and heavy a stone for me to even think of moving, even with the most careful application of the laws of physics {I can hear some of you now, hollering "Deb, don't even think about it!!!}

However, a few weeks ago, I saw the familiar leaves poking around the stone.  She'd survived and is spreading out and around the offending rock.  Last week, a few tentative buds appeared, and today she is starting to dance in all her ballerina glory!

Thrilled with the beauty of this poppy in the garden, just after the marriage of William and Catherine, I bought two Royal Wedding  poppies.  Only one plant was in flower, one was in tight bud, and I was smitten by the stunning contrast of a navy centre against the pure white petals.

Peek a Boo! Do you see the bug?

However, when the second one opened, it was not the same colour at all, but a delightful shade of mauve.  I was not disappointed at all, but have no idea what this one is called.  It's very, very pretty indeed.

So, I had three beauties in my garden, bringing lots of pleasure, although they are short lived.  I had hoped to gather and sow seed, but was told Orientals do not propagate from seed, but on runners and root cuttings.  Then this happened:

Two years after I planted the Royal Wedding, a magnificent, deep orangey pink poppy opened, and I have no idea where it came from, or how, but I would say it's self seeded, contradicting what I had been told.

If anyone knows anything how this might have happened, I will be interested to hear from you.  It looks more coral than Coral Sea!

The only down side is the blooms only last for about five days, but when a single plant is so full of buds that after twenty seven you tend to lose count, my only wish is that they would all open together in one colossal and magical display.  Just once, then they can return to normal, but wouldn't that be something to see?

Until next time
Stay safe, stay well,
Deborah xoxo

p.s. I apologise for the differences in text, I have tried the new blogger which is being forced upon us again, and I definitely do not like it.  I wonder how many of us will lose swathes of followers as we did last time?

Over the Garden Wall

Hello Friends!

Yes, most of my contact with the outside world these days is over the garden wall, snatched chats with neighbours if we happen to be outside together.

While clearing an overgrown area the other evening, I spotted a bright yellow tennis ball.  It belonged to the little boy next door.  Two months ago I would have gently thrown it back.  Now, I called to his Mum to ask if it was okay to throw it back. How our lives have changed! She was happy so I carefully pitched it over the shrubbery.

I pondered upon this for a while, a little glimmer of what was once a normal behaviour, now changed forever.  Even when we are able to relax a little, in all likelihood Coronavirus Covid-19 will still dictate our lifestyle to us.  Unless a successful vaccine is found, like other diseases, in time it may be eradicated, but otherwise it's here for the duration.  For people with certain medical conditions {me, for example, with asthma} this means the current adaptations may be permanent. Whoa boy! Endless disinfection and hand washing.

Which got me to thinking: I hear the news channels speaking about "returning to normal", but what if you are like me and you don't want to return to that old normal, that which at the turn of the year we took for granted.  What, if like me, you can see the benefits of our situation?  The sky is bluer, the air is clearer, the silence is oh! so welcome and I am hearing birds sing, bees buzzing all day long. I am trying, arthritis permitting, to clear my garden in preparedness to grow fruit and vegetables again. If you try not to think about the dreadful and dire situation of the virus, everything else is so calm and peaceful.  As an introvert, the joy of not having to go out and socially interact is a huge relief and I am calmer and more content with my life. The planet is healing and beginning to breathe again.  She will relish this time to heal the devastating wounds we have inflicted.

I have seen a huge change in even my most basic day to day activities, and other than the endless disinfecting and cleaning processes, I am settling into the new routine well, and happily. How I cook and eat has changed; how I shop has changed; my focus on what is, and what isn't, important has changed; how much rubbish I am throwing out has decreased unbelievably {and I didn't throw that much out in the first instance}.  I don't want to go back to the normal that was before. I want this new normal, without the virus hanging over us.  If we don't all learn from this, then do we really deserve to be the custodians of the planet?

Okay, I won't go on any more about the virus, but I wanted to share my feelings. Thank you for indulging me and listening!

I am not yet happy to start walking about along the roads, but that time is coming, so for now all my photos are taken in my garden, and here's a few things currently blooming and growing in my cottage garden.

I could preface each of these with "it's my favourite flower", for I love them all!

Arum Lily in bud

Violets along a wall

Now, two Christmases ago, the first Christmas after my darling Mum died, I did not feel like doing anything to celebrate.  I did not decorate, but ended up buying a living tree which I garlanded with fruit and nuts, and birdseed, placed outside my cottage door.  The tree did not do well, and despite repotting it has not thrived.  The other day I decided to tip it out and use the giant pot it is in for something else, so imagine my delight to find it is suddenly sprouting tiny green buds all over!

Native fern

Aquilegia or Grannies' Bonnet

Libertia peregrinans or Wandering iris

offshoot! Free plants!

Aquilegia

I just adore the delicate colouring on this pansy

London Pride {I can just hear Noel Coward singing}

Pennywort or Navelwort

Native fern

Pennywort flower

There will be many pictures of flowers and probably very little else on my blog in the coming months, but with each new bloom comes a promise of hope, a promise of a future that we must not mess up. We're being given a second chance, let's not let nature, or ourselves, down.

Until next time
Deborah xoxo