Red poppies and pale pink lavatera
I think that I've been spending far too much time in the garden . . . I'm starting to read "signs" in the flowers.
After two months of pastel lushness, tall red poppies are springing up everywhere. I don't remember planting them. Perhaps they seeded themselves?
Over the last week, the burning sun has scorched the edges of flowers and grass. The Met Office has issued its first heatwave alert. We can't sleep for the early morning light and the suffocating heat.
The colour red, as you probably know, has the longest wavelengths of light. Summer seems to be gathering its energy. The long days are intense with it.
Red is also the colour of anger -- and love. Our weekend was emotionally jagged; the heat builds up, and then there are storms.
27 comments:
You have described our weekend perfectly as well. That's why my entire back garden is planted in white. White roses...white hydrangeas...white gardenias. It helps calm things down a bit!
But I must say, I do adore those red, red poppies!!
If it is as hot as it is now in Britain, poppies will appear like a rash! They can lie dormant for years.
I'm travelling back to England tomorrow and I can't wait to see all the fields full of poppies and sheep etc. Your picture is lovely and wetted my appetite
Blessings, Star
Ah lovely, our poppies have all but gone in the garden.yet there are still fields of them around, and there were plenty up in Rutland this weekend.
Sorry to hear your w/e was a bit 'charged' though. It's very hot and sticky, I have a constant low grade head ache - oppressive.
Your garden is so beautiful! x
Those red poppies are gorgeous!! It was very hot in central Ohio over the weekend,with temps in the nineties. We had guests from out of town and ended up staying inside as much as possible!
How come NY and England have swapped climates.
Strange indeed.
What wonderful volunteers. I hope the breezes blow and the heat lets up for you soon. We had a gorgeous day yesterday in the low nineties instead of the high nineties. Clear and dry and it made me want a three day weekend.
My husband has just mulched our little garden plot with old oak leaves. Do you think it's going to poison things?
I love that photo! Lovely red! I can't believe I'm complaining about how hot it is... but it's so sticky!!! :)
Oh dear,It seems you live in heaven!The flowers are fantastic,everything in your photos are nice!
So happy for you :)
Best Wishes
Parisa
Pamela - I tend to like lots of whites and pinks and lavenders . . . but then I forget how striking the 'hot' colors can be.
PG - Oh, that's interesting. A red rash of poppies.
Star - Oh, I hope you enjoy your trip! It's not as green as it was, but still quite green.
Spudballoo - I think that I should link to your post for a good demonstration of "seeing red." (or purple, actually)
Willow - heatwaves everywhere!
Elizabeth - That's what I keep thinking.
Nimble - I think that is okay for a mulch, but maybe a little dry? We keep adding to our compost pile without ever letting it break down!
B - I know! I'm the same; lol. I whine for sun and then moan as soon as we get too much of it.
Parisi - It is rather nice . . . if only heavenly when edited!
I love poppies and never see them here. The Texas heat is following you, B. It's hotter than a June bride here! Stay cool.
Catherine
feeling the RED as well...
Hi Bee
I wonder what constitutes a heat wave in the UK?
I love your red poppies - I called one of my girls POPPY... and she can be a bit fiery red too....
I hope you can cool off now
Happy Days
The heat has encouraged the thistles in the field. Never seen then in such great numbers. Beautiful flowers, but not very nice for the sheep when they get a spike in their feet.
Oh I would like some heat right about now! It's cold here in NZ.
I love the pics.
I have given you an award over at http://quote-ching.blogspot.com. Check it out....
Hi Bee - thanks for visiting - this is a return call - love the poppies, I am sure they seeded themselves - they don't wait for an invitation. Call again!
A heat wave in Britain? How rare that is! The poppies are gorgeous, but I immediately felt angry at those who grow them elsewhere for bad reasons. Poppies for Flanders day offers another ambivalent feeling about these so brilliant flowers. Nonetheless, a lovely photograph!
Lovely! The poppies, not the heat wave. I adore poppies in any color, but that vivid red is my favorite.
I saw headlines about the heat, but up in Scotland it was cool and drizzly all weekend. Then yesterday in Heathrow I noticed that the a/c was having trouble keeping things properly cool in some parts (or cool at all, actually).
There was a heat wave in the Bay Area this weekend, too, with temps up around 100F (37-38C). Can't say I'm sorry I missed it.
Hope the heat wave passes soon. Until then, iced drinks all around!
Red is a powerful color. And heat can drain you. I hope this week will deliver some cool blues and greens.
A Thousand Clapping Hands - Yes, some of my Texan friends were mocking my idea of HEAT, but I had to remind them that we have no air conditioning!
Stephanie - Me, too. My face is red, in fact.
Delwyn - 30 degrees C. and no rain for weeks!
Chairman Bill - I guess there is something that is always going to appreciate the dry soil.
Yvonne - Wish I could send you some heat . . . and WOW, thanks.
The Weaver of Grass - I will. :)
Margaret - Yes, they do have some dubious associations. Poor poppies. I actually planted a beautiful one called Patty's Plum, but just noticed that it was a bit dry and brown when I was watering tonight.
Anne - How funny to think of you in Heathrow yesterday! No AC or ice around here, unfortunately. Hope you had fun with the Scotch scientists.
Lisa - Oh, thank you; I wish that I could dive into something blue right now!
Oh, I love the rich red color of Poppies. We live in the "poppy capital" and there's a community festival every year, The Poppy Festival.
Say, I've been out of touch for several days. Trying to tweak my blog a little, remove some old stuff, start fresh. Even changed my name to ♥Boomer♥ from bfs-Mimi .. but I'm still the same person. :-)
Getting prepared to "go public" again after I take care of a few more things...but tonight I just had to catch up on a bit of reading and commenting.
I bet you're glad those poppies sowed themselves, they are stunning, red is one of my favourite colours. And your garden is very beautiful.
It's warm and sticky and it's going to get even warmer and stickier...
Boomer (hello Mimi!) - I didn't realize that there was a Poppy Festival, but somehow I'm not surprised.
Polly - Yes, red flowers, red faces and red tempers for anyone who has to ride the Tube in London!
I loved this red post, Bee :)
Red poppies are wild but poppies in general are very interesting as they are a law unto themselves.
We collected poppy seeds of all colours from a churchyard some years ago and threw the seeds around everywhere. They were lots of different colours and types os we anticipated having all kinds of poppies in the garden.
Only one sort came up the following year - unbelievably frilly and wispy bright pink ones, in large numbers. They seeded themselves and for a few years we had these. But now suddenly they are all gone and instead the garden is full of very tall pale and dark mauve poppies, plus a few red ones and a yellow one.
Very odd. I rather like that. No doubt some poppy expert can explain but I like to think that poppies contain within themselves the ability to transform. They are wonderful for bees, which are having a hard time of things these days, so I am encouraging them all I can.
Bee, your garden is stunning! Poppies and peonies are my favourite flowers :-)
Hey Bee hope you can relax soon. I find that with lot of sun for many days, I get too too energized too fast and tired too fast. I love rainy days.....excellent photo of the flowers. Anna :)
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