During July the verges near our cottage positively lit up with drifts of wildflowers. The stars of this colourful show for me were the heady mix of self-seeded native corn and breadseed poppies. A mound of abandoned compost on a fenland road, a small patch of waste ground and a stretch of fallow field next to a rural pavement were as stunning as any well-tended garden.
One of the girls’ favourite things to do is snap off our ripe poppy seedheads and scatter their contents around the garden. We visited some of these vergeside poppy gardens to collect seeds in recent days.
I’ve written about these beautiful displays of poppies and about our seed collecting over on the Sarah Raven blog, Garlic and Sapphire this month. If you fancy popping over the link is here.
Just finished reading your poppy post on Sarah's blog.
They are beautiful and I know how much inspiration you take from the seedheads Emma.
Those seedheads are definitely magical, all that potential inside. 🙂
Vivienne x
The poppies have been outstanding here too – I've been dying to paint them, but I've lost my watercolours!
I thought the pictures were familiar! I must pay more attention when I click on a pinterest link. Two years ago there was a field full of poppies a few miles from me, beautiful sight.
Soooo beautiful!!!! I love poppies all the way, from bud to seed pod, they're so lovely, fragile yet strong.
I haven't seen any around here, I'll have to go searching 🙂
That is a beautiful photograph. I'm popping over to read your piece now … I adore poppies 😀
Poppy seed heads are fascinating.
Last year I completed a whole sketchbook on them as part of a branch project with the embroiderers guild.
Popping up to my Mum's in Burwell tomorrow so I shall keep my eyes peeled at the verges this coming week. Lovely photos. Got some on my blog of flowers in my garden but no poppies. I left those at my lasy house.
x
Those seedheads are so fascinating – so sculptural and stylized. And the blossoms are beyond words. Off now to read your other post.
They're gorgeous! If you snap spread the contents of the heads around, do you get poppies the next year?
My favourite summer flowers! Thank you for sharing them! Ada 🙂
Your daughter's picture shows that she's got her mom's talent! It's grand that you're encouraging her both with the art and with the gardening.
Your photographs are splendid. Poppies are also among my favorite flowers, and I agree about the beauty of the seedheads. I've got a very old silver, ivory and coral bead necklace from India. The silver beads always reminded me of poppy seedheads. You probably know the sort of beads I mean.
I'm wondering what will have inspired your autumn silver collection?
xo
Lovely posts with beautiful photographs! We've always collected the seed heads from our garden poppies and scattered them to go wild the following year. Nothing like the amazing display here though!
I scatter willy nilly, but poppies will only ever grow where they want to. I admire their single mindedness.
Seedheads are lovely aren't they? Such satisfying and sculptural shapes. Very inspirational.
We were driving about last weekend and noticed verges full of wildflowers next to the main roads, and wondered if there was a new (and happy) policy not to cut them all down so soon. Hope so 🙂
I smiled thinking about your girls scattering the seeds…
I still get a childlike pleasure from lifting the little green caps off the Californian Poppies when they are ready to flower. I know nature does it better but there is something about lifting them off……..
oh how gorgeous your poppies are, we had an amazing stripe of them in one of the fields nearby, but I didn't manage to get a photo…..
Poppies were the first thing I grew as a child in 'my patch' in my grandparents garden. Nan referred to them until she died as 'Kate's Poppies'. They were huge and the same patch grew poppies for 35+ years. So beautiful and tissuey. Your pic Emma looks like silk fabric one, it's lovely. Thank you for reminding me of 'my poppies'!
CKx
These pictures of your poppies are beautiful, I love your daughters drawings too 🙂 how lovely! I love the seed heads of the flowers and their shapes, very inspirational 🙂 safxxx
How lovely, it is wonderful to share in these creative activities with the next generation.
I love poppies, I used to scatter the seeds around my parents garden when I was little, they come out of the seed head in such a satisfying way. – Annie
Your seed packets are wonderful! When do you know that the seed pods are ready? I have lots of mad poppies that have gone over in the garden and I want to collect the seed too. Locket xx