This is not a Flanders poppy but is very special nonetheless. It came up in a winter sown jug of Canterbury Bells which didn't germinate. When I saw I had a poppy in the corner of the jug because of the drooping bud, I set it out in the sun to bloom.
Since there was only one and it had bloomed later than my other poppies, there was no way to cross pollinate it and this kind of poppies do not self-pollinate.
I was heartsick and never found any seeds for a red poppy as fully double as this. The petals were like silk.
I had a terrible time getting the right code to embed my photo from flickr, don't do it much and they keep changing stuff. I am in the middle of the nastiest job I have ever done, had to come in and rest, now must go back out.
I let everything go last year because I was so depressed over the death of my son. It is one gawdawful mess this year. The worst part is I was mail ordering roses and got one that produces the nastiest thorns. To make a long story short, the roses died all the way back because of the winter and I have one bag filled with monster thorny brush, will start a second. Then some pokeweed got loose and seeded itself and I will have to whack that. And so much more.
I could not find any paid help that will mess with the mess the roses have caused. I have tears all over my arms. I was out there literally crying from the pain before I came in. I do wear leather gloves; it's my back and side that will only let me work about 15 minutes, then I have to rest.
