Poppies

I planted a package of Oriental poppy seeds several years ago in "The Martha Shed" (this is what I call my greenhouse/shed jokingly named after Martha Stewart because my shed is cute and perfect kind of like Martha would have it!) and had success with one plant.  I put this plant into my flower bed and within a few weeks my husband managed to whack it with his weed eater. The next year, to my surprise, this one plant came back and had one bloom. I was so proud!  I took the seed pod from this one bloom and dried it and spread the seeds in the flower bed.  The next year I got another plant and continued to dry the seed pods and spread the seeds in my flower bed.  I now have, once again to my surprise, several beautiful Oriental poppy plants that amaze me every year. I keep my husband and his weed eater far away from these plants now!

On a side note, several years ago I baked cookies for a prison ministry group that went to the Purdy prison once a month to give the women there hope for the future. One of the ingredients that I couldn't use in the cookies was poppy seeds because it would show up in their drug tests. Who knew that such a beautiful plant could also be so destructive. (The above plants are not the opium producing kind or the kind that you can use for cooking, just in case you were wondering!)