gard9804

April, 1998： This month's flower; Poppy

Mieko Nagano Oita city, Japan

The most powerful bloom in my tiny garden could be the seedlings of poppy. Here and there in the garden and field, they are literally bulging out of the soil to open the leaves. They will soon stretch slender stems out of their thick foliage. The lovely buds at the top of the stems will one day gently open to show the orange petals. The petals will soon stretch to the full length as if they start to blaze and compete with the glaring sun.

I love to watch the very thin petals of poppy shivering in the still cold spring wind. I often step down from the terrace to talk to the tiny flowers. I love to exchange words with the flower wearing a straw hat and with a cup of coffee in one hand. One day when a whip of spring wind blow, the orange petals wanted to make a trip drifting on the air flow. After the petals have gone, round ovaries were left behind tilting their heads with thin twisting stems. At the end of summer, those ovaries will go out for journey as well. They may find their cozy landing spots in my tiny garden to pass the winter until next spring for shooting. Muscari, Forget-me-not, and pansy paint my garden blue. Among them, brilliant orange flowers of poppy make people's feet stop who pass by the path around my garden.

Flower archives

mieko@fat.coara.or.jp