This spot of colourful California Poppies growing through heat and drought and the stones of the driveway probably wouldn't have been here if Col was still alive and well. He was always keen to spray weedkiller on anything in the wrong place and his council work, in the early days involved spraying too. I'm not keen on weedkiller, never have been and who knows how much damage all that nasty stuff did to his health.
There are patches of poppies all over the driveway and in tiny gaps between the patio slabs and lots of mullein plants popping up too. How they are surviving without rain when nothing else is I don't know. I have no intention of spraying so they will stay.
Don't forget tonight there is a total eclipse of the moon between 8.45pm and 9.30pm, when the earth is between the moon and the sun. Moon eclipses are more common than solar eclipses but only 1 in 4 is a total moon eclipse. These are sometimes called 'blood moons' because the moon takes on shades of red and orange.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I love poppies and those are very pretty.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see a few bonus flowers in your garden, the yellow in the poppies are a true shade of summer.
ReplyDeleteI like your poppies, but my husband would have killed them too.
ReplyDeleteAll the colour left in our garden is the Agapanthus and some Crocosmia. Everything else is gone over now and some things look like they won't recover.
ReplyDeleteThe poppies are so pretty.
Hugs-x-
Very pretty little poppies.
ReplyDeleteA nice surprise and a good reason not to spray as you often find all kinds of plants spring up. The grass verges are so much prettier these days now that spraying of them has ceased and such a wealth of wild flowers appearing and trees. Of course there are a lot more dandelions etc to contend with but I don't mind that. A lot of the sprays we use in this country are banned in other countries for their health risks. It is the same with treatments you use in the home - I believe Sweden are one of the more cautious countries and they have less health related problems from these kind of products.
ReplyDeleteWe have some of these poppies too and I never pull them up. They are in two places in the garden and as you say, Sue, they are so bright in this drought.
ReplyDeleteOne can forgive pleasant flowers that grow in the drive, but not the nasty weeds that grow in mine!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was nine or ten, I was known as the girl who could spell anything (only because of all the reading I did I guess!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the rector had heard this, and would look out for me. I would dread seeing him in his beretta and long black robes bearing down on me, because it was always a spelling challenge.
The one he stumped me with was eschscholzia.
Eventually I got it right, but it took me even longer to find out that it was.
Of course it was the Latin name of the Californian poppy. How could such a pretty flower give me so much grief?!
.....and I swear I typed biretta!
ReplyDeleteActually the spellchecker is trying to change it back even now! Grrrr!
My garden overlooking the sea is a blaze of colour courtesy of a few Californian poppy seeds I sowed back in the winter.
ReplyDeleteI love plants that pop up willy nilly, let’s face it they have a far better idea than man as to what suits them. I hate weed killer with a passion and feel like you that Colin’s work might have been instrumental in his illness, trouble is there is no way of knowing!
LX
Love the poppies. Clearly, a hopeful flower since it has survived the heat and drought. I'm with you on banning the chemicals.
ReplyDeleteSue, thank you for your lovely support at 'Bag End" yesterday, so good of you to take the time to comment on my garden woes.
ReplyDeleteI have to apologise - somehow I "lost" you months & months ago, not sure how, perhaps I thought you had given up blogging when you changed sites. So it was a shock to visit you here today and learn about Colin. What on earth can I say? You have been amazing since he died, but do not be too hard on yourself and expect too much of yourself, especially in the first year of so. huge hugs. Jayne, x
Poppies are nice growing in gravel and I do not class them as weeds, although I only know red poppies. Lovely day again. I will be looking at the moon tonight.
ReplyDeleteI love poppies and how they pop up here, there, and everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe poppies are beautiful! I don't use weed killer either because if I did there would be very little "lawn" left! I'm looking forward to seeing the moon tonight. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the lunar eclipse. We are not able to see this one in the U.S. but I'm hoping to enjoy pictures online. The poppies are so bright and cheery!
ReplyDeleteI have Welsh poppies here rather than Californian ones. If I watered them they would be flowering now, but something has to give and they will be back in the spring as usual. I detest sprays/weedkiller and think it can have some nasty side effects. Someone I once gardened for used to spray her veg HEAVILY with bug-control sprays and didn't wash her veg before eating it and contracted cancer of the oesophagus. I can help thinking the bug control spray may have caused that. Live and let live (though I make the exception for a few of the real thugs in the proper weed world.)
ReplyDeleteI have always loved them - they are such a beautiful splash of colour when everything is beginning to look dead.
ReplyDeleteLast year after we had a bunch of rain, the poppy fields in the Antelope Valley were exquisite. This year not so much, but there were blooms. I think the poppy's have adapted to our climate and if they're sown when it's warm, they will bloom. Lovely flowers.
ReplyDeleteHope y'all enjoyed the eclipse!
I'm glad to see those poppies growing there. Almost our whole yard might be considered weeds but that's okay with me. :-) I'm in total agreement with you on not using poisons on our yards.. and I think my uncles who farmed and sprayed their fields with toxins died of cancer.. put 2 and 2 together.. DON'T USE HERBICIDES OR PESTICIDES. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteyour poppies are pretty and I enjoyed the evening sky while out watering this evening. Did have to go back in quick for a bit as there was a skunk in our yard....then when I went back out he/she was in the very back but decided to water it anyway and never got bothered. I hope to see the eclipse...or maybe missed it. I thought it was the 28th. Yup, don't like weed spray either but Phil uses it once in awhile. Better than they used to be but Roundup does get into the ground and also can cause cancer...bummer...too much of that going around these days! Don't like something, pull is out or cut it back, like the crazy blackberries in our flower bed. UGGGG! Have a good weekend!
ReplyDelete