One Poppy per Day

There are a lot of Snapseed edits in my photo of a single poppy after a rain. I forgot to sow my saved poppy seeds and only one plant reseeded itself this year. I have a seed packet to sow in the fall or very early spring. Have a great weekend.

xo, Rosemary

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Random Photos Around My Cottage

Red Poppy 

This poppy is one of the last due to the heatwave we've been having. The seed pods are still working hard though to produce seeds for next year.

I beat the birds one morning this week in order to have freshly picked raspberries on my morning yogurt.

Here is a portrait view of one of my wild raspberry bushes.

The bees and other pollinators are really enjoying my pink swamp milkweed flowers. Later the monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on the leaves as food for the caterpillars.

I have been busy indoors during this current heatwave but just had to open all the windows and enjoy listening to the birds this morning. I can only stand to be sealed up with the air condition turned on for so long. We had rain overnight and it was pleasantly cool when I got up early. I know I will have to close everything up later as it is supposed to be 91° later. Stay cool and be save. xo

Poppy Seed Pods

I gathered these seed pods yesterday morning and I couldn't believe the size of this bunch after only three days. Needless to say, I will have plenty of seeds for next years poppy patch. Have a wonderful July 4th.

My Poppies in Bud Stage

I planted the seeds for these red poppies on a mild day in March when lockdown first began. I had just transplanted my mother's daffodils in a spot that was visible from my kitchen window. It dawned on me that I would have to look at their withering yellow foliage after the daffs stopped blooming. I decided to plant these poppies to take over where the daffodils left off and it worked beyond my wildest hopes. The seed packet was over a year old and I had no idea whether or not the seeds would germinate. Poppy seeds need cold before they can grow and fall is the best time to sow the seeds. We had plenty of cold weather in April and May so my late sowing was successful. Will post more pics when I get blooms.

Enjoy the upcoming weekend. xo

Stunning Flower Photography

There are no words for the beauty of this yellow poppy. via

Memorial Day Remembrance

The poppy is the recognized symbol of remembrance for war dead in Canada, the countries of the British Commonwealth, and the United States. The flower owes its significance to the poem In Flanders Fields, written by Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) John McCrae, a field surgeon in the Canadian artillery, in the midst of the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, in May 1915.

The poppy references in the first and last stanzas of the most widely read and oft-quoted poem of the war contributed to the flower's status as an emblem of remembrance and a symbol of new growth amidst the devastation of war. via

IN FLANDERS' FIELDS by John McCrea

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

The key points of his biography. He was a truly remarkable and inspiring man.

Caterpillar Feasting on A Poppy Pod

Caterpillar Absolem feasting on Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). This stunning photo is straight out of Alice in Wonderland, isn't it? I want to save it forever, I love it so. Mother Nature really outdid herself when designing this caterpillar's body and colorful markings. via

Papaver somniferum "Midnight"