Poppies

We in Virginia don't have the same variety of Poppies that grow in California. Ours are dinky compared to theirs. Ours come in only one color, orange. They tend to grow in waste places, amongst the gravel along side the road or in hard clay. Individually they are insignificant. I understand the western poppies are magnificant this year, what with all the winter rains that fell in that portion of the country. I've seen pictures. We in Virginia can not compare.

For some reason which I haven't figured out yet, occassionally an entire field will bloom with our Virginia poppies. When they bloom in mass, it's like a blanket of orange waving in the wind. I'm not sure why they pick certain fields to fill. I've never had a pasture so totally colonized, but just down the road from our farm I found a field covered in the just opening blooms. The accompaning picture was taken earlier today (Friday).

Across the road from this field was a pasture packed with the pale yellow of mustard blooming. My pastures have their quota of dandilions and will soon have a haze of buttercups and white and red clover, but nothing so dramatic as the poppies. The Wicked Witch of the West loved poppies. Remember her calling out to Dorothy and her companions as they made their way toward Oz. I'm not sure Virginia Poppies cause drosiness but it would be a pleasure to spread out a blanket on a warm spring day and have a picnic amoungst the orange.