Pop Go The Poppies ... Well, Some of Them ...

Shirley Poppies (Papaver rhoeas)

Surely these should be sporting buds by now ... but they're not and I still call them Shirley. (I know, this is Sunday, not Punday, but I do enjoy a bit of wordplay.) I direct sowed seeds from Renee's Garden in one of the back beds exactly 3 months ago today. I've not had much luck growing Shirley Poppies from transplants so I wasn't really expecting much from them. It was a nice surprise to recognize the seedlings and watch them grow into lush clumps of plants. I've not seen any buds on them yet, though, and I'm wondering if they're too crowded by other plants (or each other ... as is my tendency, I didn't thin them out after they sprouted.) I checked Renee's online catalog information but it doesn't say how many days till bloom. Anyone know?

While I was out there, I took a picture of the Carefree Beauty rose that burst into bloom this week, surrounded by Opie-M poppies. You almost can't tell which are roses and which are poppies!


Then I spotted this beauty in the process of emerging from its shell. Just after I took the first picture, a gust of wind blew the last of the husk away and just that quick, the bloom was open. Can you spot the bee on the lower right side of the bud? S/he wasn't that happy about being interrupted in its endeavors and buzzed my head a couple of times to let me know s/he had staked a claim on that blossom!