Friday, July 18, 2008

Behold a New Poppy, Thanks to the Bees!

"Munstead" English lavender is in bloom in a drift across the front of one of my raised beds. I've yet to do anything terribly crafty or delicious with my lavender, but I'm open to any ideas! I've read that lavender induces delta waves of sleep on an EEG and its smell alone can replace sleeping pills. My deep-seated lavender-memory is from university days, when I tried to mask the smell of cadavers with a lab coat steeped in lavender essential oil. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but later I had some creepy lavender flashbacks.

Lily "Cote d'Azur" is a great little pink lily. Most impressively, I started with one plant and now I seem to have them all over my yard. Lilies are so amazingly hardy and resistant to my division techniques, which often result in lily beheadings.

I'm really excited about this new garden event: Behold the purple poppy (A).

Then, behold the pink and mauve poppy (B).

Take a bee that likes purple and pink poppies and you have: Pink and Purple Poppy (A+B=C). This is my second year of growing Papaver somniferum and I find this little genetic shuffle rather neat! I 'll be taking seeds from this one and spreading them around.

Pink poppies and blue cornflowers. Both self-seeded. What a pair!

The flowerbed alongside the driveway contains some flourishing perennials and a rose that survived my harsh pruning this spring. In fact, I think it looks pretty good!

11 comments:

Jane O' said...

Wow, I love that pruple poppy. It's a beaute.

Cicero Sings said...

Poppies are so beautiful!

As for lavender ... I use it in my soaps and body oils ... the essential oil that is. But I don't know if you want to take the time to distil it out!! Ha, ha. Anyway, lavender essential oil is said to help heal burns. I use aloe and lavender whenever I'm silly enough to get a sun burn. It is also one of the E.O. that is a deterrent to mosquitoes ... I've found it helps a little.

Neem oil is also helpful for skin in general though stinky. It also REALLY works on dry, cracked skin (especially heels ... almost heals them up overnight). D and his mother both have dry cracked heels so I know. (Don't ask me how I got onto Neem!! ... my mind works in strange ways! ... sunburned skin I guess.)

Philosophical Karen said...

Your garden looks fantastic! I love those poppies. I wish I could have such luck with mine.

bjb said...

I love your garden! The flowers are fantastic. I especially like your useage of the rocks. Your blog is a joy to read. Thank you for sharing it.

Eric Bronson said...

Leave it to nature to make something beautiful!!!

Anonymous said...

The poppy & cornflower combination is very attractive. Love the delphiniums too - I can't grow them on my light, dry soil.

Unknown said...

I'm always delighted to see what the poppies have done this year...I tag them and save seeds whenever possible. Love them all, every one.

Deana said...

Thanks for the info...I found the pink and purple poppy in the over grown garden of a place that I rented years ago... I saved the seeds and grow them every year!

Anonymous said...

Love that purple poppy!!! I've only got red and pink...

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Anonymous said...

My neighbor has this poppy growing wild on his farm. It's so pretty! I really want to learn how to collect and save the seeds.