Category Archives: Poppy

July 24, 2022 · 3:26 pm

FLUID CRYSTALLIZATION

There is a section of my garden

Where I don’t have many perennials.

I have given it over to self seeding annuals.

Poppies and Larkspur in the spring

Are followed by Cosmos, Cleome, Cockscomb and Zinnias.

This does however result in a few empty spaces.

For years – decades really – I have planted Zinnias in those places.

This happens later in the season.

Usually mid – June through Mid – July.

So when the first round of volunteer Zinnias

Get mildew

And they will.

I have a second fresh crop for fall.

This accidental plan

Has worked great for years and years.

Then comes this summer.

The first round of Zinnia seeds

Planted in mid – June

Have sprouted and started to bloom.

But the second and third rounds

Simply won’t sprout.

I’ve tried different varieties

From different companies

At different times

And zilch!

Then I read this week

That because of this relentless heat

The soil is too hot to germinate seeds.

Seriously…how can that be.

Think about that for a moment.

It’s a really scarey thought

Since growing food

Requires lots and lots of seed germination.

So, once again, we must adjust our knowledge

Of what works

And what no longer will.

Which brought to mind a book I’m reading.

“From Strength to Strength” by Arthur C Brooks.

In it he talks about the “fluid intelligence” of our 30’s and 40’s

And the “crystallized intelligence” of my stage of life

And ways of sharing our “crystallization” (my word) that will lead to happiness.

So my “crystallized intelligence” of decades in the garden

Needs to become a bit more fluid

To adapt to nature and the changes we are forcing on it.

But that is really how nature works.

Witness the life of poet Mary Oliver

Who walked the woods and shorelines of her home

Writing books and books of poems.

Leaving behind a depth of “crystallized intelligence”

For the world.

Maybe it’s the generations of Presbyterians in me

But I’m thankful I don’t have all the answers.

About gardening

And about life.

There is still space to grow.

Gail

If we don’t change we don’t grow. If we don’t grow we aren’t really living.

Gail Sheehy

2 Comments

Filed under cleome, cockscomb, Cosmos, Garden Planning, Gardening, Larkspur, Nature, Perennials, Poppy, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Timing, Uncategorized, Zinnia

July 10, 2022 · 3:29 pm

“ON BEING” IN MY GARDEN

Much of what I do in my garden

Is dictated by the rythmn of the season.

Winter is for seed starting.

Spring for planting and transplanting.

June is for…well…just being glorious.

July is all about survival.

And this year is a rough one.

We are stuck under the heat dome

Bringing days and days at or near 100 degrees.

So, the most important thing I do

Is monitor the water.

Using it in the most earth friendly way I know.

Less frequent deep watering with drip lines.

Another part of the ritual is seed collection.

The garden house floor

Is covered with stacks of Larkspur, Poppy and Hollyhocks

In their final stage of drying

To re-suppy my seed collection

And share in the coming year.

I love sharing seeds

And hearing about them sprouting in new homes.

I thrive on pattern and ritual.

So following nature through the seasons

Brings me peace and joy.

My Saturday morning garden ritual is to first cut flowers

For the church arrangements.

That way they have several hours to get a good drink

Before being arranged.

This week I quickly moved on to weeding

And planting Cosmos & Zinnia seeds

In the open places that were created.

I was clicking along when my friend Debra sent a text.

She too was in her garden

And doing what we often both do.

Listening to Krista Tippett’s podcast “On Being”.

I have been a faithful listener since near the beginning 20 years ago.

Together Debra and I have listened and discussed

Along with Krista and her guests.

At times it feels like we actually know these people!

After all, Krista is an Oklahoman so there is a connection.

But this morning was different.

It was the last of this particular format.

“An On Being Listening Party Reviewing 20 Years”

And the memories of so many Saturday mornings in my garden.

Came flooding back.

Conversations with a joyful Desmond Tutu, Mary Oliver, John O’Donahue

And so many more were recounted.

These are all favorites of mine.

But two of my most memorable conversations were not mentioned.

So I share them here with you.

They go back to a time early on when the program was only on the radio

Not podcasted – and was called “Speaking of Faith”.

The first is an interview with Joe Carter.

Likely you don’t know of him.

He is a musician who told the stories of spirituals.

With a deep rich voice

And a broad knowledge of these stories.

I was transported back to my childhood

Listening to my great uncles singing these very songs

In my parents living room.

I think I’ve listened to the unedited version 6 times!

Joe Carter — The Spirituals

The other early memory is of a conversation between

A Jewish woman and a young Palestinian man

Titled “No More Taking Sides”.

They tell the stories of their unimaginable loss

And what they have done with their grief.

Be prepared to cry at the end.

Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad — No More Taking Sides

If you don’t know “On Being” you can find it and the treasured conversations here.

On Being with Krista Tippett

The conversations are rich.

The subjects are broad.

Fortunately, those hundreds of conversations are available to everyone.

I know I’ll be listening to them again and again for another 20 years.

So thank you Krista for being my Saturday morning garden companion.

You have opened my heart and broadened my mind.

You have challenged me and helped me grow

Bringing fascinating people into my life.

I’m looking forward to the next iteration of On Being

And how it will enrich our lives.

Gail

POPPY PLANS

Years ago,

When I designed

And maintained gardens

For other people,

I had a friend with a sandy spot.

We planted purple larkspur

And red poppies.

I have repeated that combination

In my current garden.

They are the star of my late May

And early June garden.

When they finish blooming

Seeds fall.

This pattern has repeated itself

Each year in this garden.

But…

One day I was walking the neighborhood

And saw a PURPLE poppy.

The generous neighbor gave me seeds

Then I ordered a few more packets of

Lauren’s Grape poppy.

This year

For the first time

I have PURPLE poppies.

They are divine.

Now I’m trying my best

To keep the red ones in the “red bed”

And creating an area just for the purple ones.

I know…I know

It’s an attempt to manipulate nature.

Not a smart idea.

After all birds and winds and who knows what else

Move these tiny seeds around the garden.

The organizer in me just has to give this a try.

I’m marking the color of wayward plants

With pink tape

Hoping to get them back into their assigned seat.

If Mother Nature will indulge me

This one tiny bit of control.

I promise after this

I’ll surrender!

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Garden Photography, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Larkspur, Nature, Oklahoma Gardening, Poppy, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Uncategorized

Tagged as Gardening, Larkspur, Poppy

September 22, 2019 · 7:46 pm

Love Zinnias…Mildew and All

One of the main goals

Of my garden

Is to have cutting flowers

All season long.

IMG_2685(Edited)

And because the foundation

Of my garden

Is perennials

I rely on self seeding annuals

To fill in the gaps between

Perennial bloom cycles.

It starts in the spring

With Poppies and Larkspur

Then comes the heroes of summer

Cleome and Zinnias.

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Poppies, Larkspur and Cleome

All manage to return on their own.

They just show up and bloom their hearts out.

Zinnias return on their own

But to a lesser degree.

So I have to plant Zinnia seeds each year.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The good thing about that

Is that I can time them…a bit.

I want zinnias blooming in the fall

Just as the Monarchs migrate to Mexico.

Photo Credit “Devra” Mitchell

So I don’t plant the seeds

Until June.

I pull up the Poppies and Larkspur

After they go to seed

And plant Zinnias in their place.

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In my neck of the woods

I have until July 4th

To accomplish this.

Zinnias do have one bad characteristic.

They are prone to mildew.

Which is another reason

Not to plant them too early.

Spring rains will do a number on them for sure.

Since summer is the dry season around here

It’s perfect for growing zinnias.

We’ve had 7 1/2 ” of rain

In the last 3 weeks!

Mildew has arrived.

The plants are really ugly

But the flowers are the same

Sunny happy faces that I love.

They are perfect cutting flowers

Playing nice with all kinds of other blooms.

It’s another life lesson of nature.

A crusty outside

Often accompanies

A loving heart.

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Bouquets, cleome, Fall, Garden Planning, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Larkspur, late summer garden, Poppy, Seed Catalogs, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Uncategorized, Zinnia

June 3, 2018 · 2:17 pm

ROOTS & WINGS

In my core I am a flat lander.

A fourth generation flat lander.

As a kid I was taught by example

To be in awe of sunsets.

My father loved them.

A get everyone up from the dinner table

To admire them

Kind of loved sunsets.

He traveled the world

Met fascinating people

But was never happier

Than when standing in his own front yard

Taking in the full 180 degree sunset

In the evening sky.

We do have some pretty spectacular sunsets.

And thunderstorms.

My friend Mike Klemme has captured many of them.

I know this place.

With it’s long growing season.

I know that sometime in late January

I can start looking for buds on the Hellebores

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And by Valentine’s I’ll see the first nose of a daffodil.

If not an out and out bloom.

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I know that each fall when I spread the summer’s compost

Around my garden

I can expect a spring crop of worms

The size of small snakes.

Happily digging their way through

The rich soil they helped to create.

But for the past few years

I’ve been cheating on my garden.

I’ve taken up gardening

In another place.

A place that couldn’t be more different

From home.

Where here there is a generous 9 – 10 month growing season.

There the last freeze date isn’t until June 15th

And the first freeze date can happen anytime after Labor Day.

Really….three months.

How do people live like that.

For me it’s because of my grandchildren.

So I’m learning to garden again.

In a new place.

Now don’t get me wrong.

Home is still home.

But I now have the opportunity

To grow things

That absolutely hate it here on the plains.

I’m trying my hand at

Lupines

And Delphinium.

Oriental Poppies

And even Foxglove

Which I have no luck with

No matter where I try.

I’m learning how to out wit

These guys.

IMG_0994 (1)

Though they seemed to have eaten

Most of said Poppy buds.

Most challenging of all is the soil.

They don’t call them the Rocky Mountains

For their light airy loam.

Even staking up a delphinium bloom

(to make it more accessible to the deer)

Is an excavation project.

But the mountain air

Does make for glorious color

In all that grows there.

So, I’m literally putting down part time roots

In a new place.

In order to give the next generation

Wings.

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Daffodils, Delphinium, Digitalis, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, Grandchildren, Grandchldren Generations, Hellebores, Lupine, Poppy, Uncategorized

July 24, 2017 · 5:44 pm

THE GARDENERS

One of the thing that intrigued me

About Monet’s garden

Was how you keep it looking so good

For 500,000 visitors a season.

A challenge to say the least.

So I was curious about the gardeners.

Normally in this situation I would simply

Sic Debra on them.

After all she is a most curious person

And has a way of interrogation that is

Gentle and charming.

But we had a couple of problems,

One, the gardeners were at work.

And we were there during their busy hours.

So we were asked not to bother them.

Then there was the fact

That they spoke French

And I don’t.

But you can learn a lot

By observing from afar.

One question was about poppies.

They pulled them up

By the root

Just as the last bloom wilted

Before the seeds had matured.

FullSizeRender (15)

Yet they look like

They have self-seeded.

So the unanswered questions was

How?

Do they dry the green pods

And save the seeds

To sprinkle in the snow?

My suspicion is that they return

To the garden

Via compost.

I never got the answer.

But sometimes mystery

And unanswered questions

Are just as much fun!

So since I wasn’t sure

Of the fate of these green pods

Packed with seeds of a color of poppy

I had never seen before.

A few seemed to find their way

Into my pocket.

Couldn’t wait to get them home

And dried

And sprinkled

Into my own garden.

But….the last night

Someone commented about how fast customs moves

With the use of drug dogs.

And since these are the very variety

Of poppies that the USDA has banned in quantity.

We decided to leave them behind.

Kristina really wanted to see her children again.

_DSC9067

And not get caught up

In a gardening tour

Drug bust!

You would think that pulling all these poppies.

Would leave giant gaps in the color.

But as soon as one plant was pulled

Someone else came along

With a plant just as tall in hand

And planted them in the empty space.

While we were there

They replaced the poppies

With Cosmos.

Three foot tall cosmos.

Which took me to

Wander through shall we say

The “guts” of the place.

The greenhouses.

And cold frames

Where they are grown.

They were filled with plants

Ready for the big show.

I found the yellow wheelbarrows

I had noticed throughout the garden

Brimming with plants

Headed to the compost pile.

They were stacked against the fence

Just like mine at home.

For me

Seeing the process

Was just as interesting

As the finished product.

I think it was there

That I found

My gardening Monet muse.

Gail

“It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.”

Claude Monet

2 Comments

Filed under Compost, Cosmos, Garden Photography, Gardening, Gardening Mentors, Monet's Garden, Garden Travel, Trip of a Lifetime, Elizabeth Murray, Nature, Poppy, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Uncategorized

July 9, 2017 · 4:29 pm

DEWY DETAILS

On Tuesday morning at Monet’s garden

We found it covered in heavy dew.

I made two entries into my journal

DETAILS

On my second morning in the garden

I’m struck by the details.

Granted it is a mass of abundant bloom

But it is the detail

That draws me in.

The light streaming through the poppy leaf

Highlighting the drops of dew

Along it’s edge.

Allium

Resembling firecrackers

As they go to seed. IMG_0353 (1)

Bees

FullSizeRender (15)

And bugs.

Details take time.

Time to slow down

Enough to notice.

To breathe them in

To ponder them

To absorb them.

In most of my life

I am not a detail person.

I see the “big picture”

And look forward.

But over the years of gardening

I’ve trained my eye to look

For the details.

And thankfully

My brain

Has trained my eye

To slow down.

To stop

To take it all in.

Being here at Giverny

In the quiet of the morning.

Allows the time

To see and feel the details

Of dew

Of new flowers opening.

FullSizeRender (15)

The last of the protective shell

Of a poppy blossom.

Before it hits the ground.

FullSizeRender (14)

This place is magical

I can see why Monet was such a productive artist

With this to inspire him.

The painter inspires the garden.

The garden inspires the painter.

HEAVY DEW

This morning the garden

Is bathed

In heavy dew.

FullSizeRender (14)

It coats

And nurtures

Each leaf

And blossom.

A giver of life

Refreshing the blooms

For another day.

So what is my heavy dew

Refreshing me each day?

What do I allow myself

to be bathed in?

What oozes into my pours

To nurture me

For the new day?

Gail

“It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.”
Claude Monet

Once again the really good pictures are Debra’s!

MONET’S GARDEN

There are some gardens

I have dreamed of seeing

All my gardening life.

This month I was lucky enough

To spend time in one of them.

Monet’s garden in Giverny, France.

It was an extraordinary opportunity.

A week staying in a manor house

With private access each morning

Before the garden opened to the public

And each evening

After it closed.

As John put it when I first told him about it

“You have to go.”

Fortunately Kristina was up for a trip.

As was Debra.

So the three of us

Set out for France.

Spending a few days in Paris

Where chocolate mousse is served

In a soup tureen!!!

Before traveling north to the countryside.

We were part of a group of 12 women

Mostly from the west coast

Who had some connection to

Elizabeth Murray…

Who years ago was

The first woman gardener at Giverny.

She has returned each year for 33 years.

Maintaining friendships with gardeners.

And making more friends along the way.

This was the first year she has taken a group

To the garden.

We were along for the second week.

And fortunate to have learned about it.

Over the next few weeks

I want to share this experience with you.

So let’s begin at the beginning.

I first became aware of Elizabeth

When I bought her book “Monet’s Passion”.

It was a resource book for my garden design days.

I highly recommend it.

Decades later I would learn that she offers

“Days of creativity” in her home.

And journey to Monterrey

With friends for my 60th birthday.

When she emailed last fall

Telling me about the trip

I got just the tiniest bit excited

And spread that to Kristina and Debra.

I would like to thank my friends

Who patiently listened to me for 6 long months

Anticipating our trip.

We gathered at La Reserve just outside Giverny

On a Sunday afternoon.

IMG_9083 (1)

Twelve women

Two from Australia

Two from Oklahoma

One from Colorado

Seven from Northern California.

Some had come to paint.

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Some to draw.

Others to photograph

And me who wanted to sit

On one of those famous green benches

And write.

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To wait for my Monet muse.

To walk the paths of this garden he created.

To see the famous light that so inspired him.

To breath the garden air.

To simply take it all in.

Because our time in the garden

Was before it opened

Each day began with a “pre-breakfast snack”

At 6:30

Which is really no problem since the sun

Came up at 5:30!

We gathered at the gardeners gate

And entered through their “shed” which was Monet’s first studio.

Images etched in my mind over decades

Pale to the reality before me.

Color everywhere.

IMG_0327 (1).JPG

Flowers I have known and grown

Others that are new to me.

Then there is the famous light

Ever changing

Moment by moment

Turning poppy petals into small stained glass works of art.

Elizabeth points out the window to Monet’s bedroom

And tells me that each morning he would open the windows

To see what was in bloom.

A habit I have with my own bedroom window

Overlooking my garden

You can tell this is a garden

Created by a gardener

Who also happened to be an artist.

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Thanks for indulging me.

Gail

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”

Claude Monet

The photos I will share over the next few weeks are from Debra, Kristina and me. I’m guessing you can tell which ones are from Debra! Thank you for sharing.

ROOTS

I woke up this morning

Thinking about roots

A word that has a double meaning in my life

Since I have deep roots in the prairie

Being the fourth generation to

Live on these plains.

I come from a long line of farmers

My father

Both grandfathers.

The great grandfathers

Whose story I know

And likely those whose stories I don’t know.

And my mother

Grandmothers

And great grandmothers

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Who farmed along side

Their fathers and husbands.

So I’m genetically connected

To the land.

It’s interesting to me

To see how this genetic predisposition

Translates from generation

To generation.

My great grandfathers

And grandfathers farmed to survive

On the plains .

During the Dust Bowl.

To provide for their large families

Who helped them work the land.

My father’s generation

Would have to be more creative

To continue to farm.

Many taking non farm jobs

To help make the farm work.

Then came my generation.

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No farmers among us.

But in me farming morphed into gardening

Serious gardening.

Rooted in a love of watching things grow.

Knowing that the weather can be

Your greatest friend

Or foe

Now comes Elliott’s generation

HB06-044

In the span of a few weeks

His graceful old Redbud tree was

Frozen while in full bloom.

His beautiful Hostas were

Shredded by a 20 minute hail storm.

Only to be snowed upon the next week.

Gardening is tough

Even if or especially if you are an urban gardener.

I believe that because gardening is tough

It makes people

Tough

Resilient

Patient

Hopeful

So I’ll go to my garden

To replant dahlias

That didn’t survive the

Frigid blast of early December.

I’ll rejoice in the two purple Poppies

That will multiply in coming years,

And I’ll thank God

For the deep roots

Of my garden

And my life.

Gail

3 Comments

Filed under Farmers, Generations, Gratitude, Hosta, Poppy, Redbud Trees, Uncategorized

June 23, 2014 · 1:49 am

MIRACLES

This morning’s sermon was about miracles.

A reminder of those familiar Bible stories

And a challenge to think about miracles

In life today.

For gardeners this is not really a challenge.

We spend our time observing nature

Digging in the dirt

(Sorry Daddy – soil)

And watching what are for me

Miracles everyday.

Who among us can turn this

into this?

Plant a seed or plant

and you end up with this…

or this…

It can’t possibly be what we do.

I for one, can’t even imagine how this happens

Yet it does.

Season after season.

Year after year.

Now there are weeds along the way.

This particular season it seems to be

Crab grass in my garden

And there are years when

Things don’t go as we hope and plan.

For instance it’s another year of limited hydrangea blooms.

But all in all

The miracles are there

Every day.

We just have to stop

And look

And open ourselves to see them

Everywhere.

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Clematis, Gloriosa Daisy, Larkspur, Lilies, Miracles, Perennials, Poppy, roses, Seeds, self seeding annuals, Stella d Ora Daylily, Uncategorized

Tagged as Miracles

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