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May 31, 2008

The Oriental Poppy

Among all the flowering plants in my garden, there have always been the oriental poppies – the classic reddish-orange and the salmon colors -- at both the front and the back of the house.

When we had a graduation party for my daughter and her friends in June 1993 ( in those days Brown’s commencement was a three-day event held the first weekend in June), just about everyone fell in love with the Poppies.

The Poppies grew bigger and taller each year. I added a few more over the years. I have tried the white and the maroon red, but had no luck with them.

I think all of us also fall in love with the images and paintings of Poppies by Georgia O’Keeffe and Monet .

Growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, I never saw poppies or a poppy field in all my years there. I also did not see them during my several return visits to the northern part of Thailand near Burma, now called Myanmar, or to the Golden Triangle area near the Mekong River. The Thai government, with assistance from many European countries, tried to eradicate the poppy growing and opium production.

I remember that when I was very young, someone had pointed out to me the doors or entrances of supposedly the opium dens along some canals and streets in certain sections of Bangkok. I was told that those were ‘bad’ places where men would go in to smoke some kind of pipes for hours and hours. Such places are no longer existing, but I heard that heroin and other street drugs are still being sold quite rampantly in the streets of Bangkok, despite the official effort to crack down.

Morphine and Heroin are derivatives of opium poppy. Morphine has been used as an opiate analgesic drug, to relieve all types of pain. Heroin is synthesized from morphine and is highly addictive. The word ‘Morphine’ was coined by the German pharmacist, Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertuner, after Morpheus, the Greek God of dreams.

It is also of worthy interest that Morphine has been found to be endogenously produced by humans and animals, by the cells in the heart, pancreas and brain.

In my research for this blog, using the information available on line; I have stumbled upon The Wonderful World Wizard Of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The original novel had Dorothy, the Scare crow, the Tin Man and the cowardly Lion walked through the field of poppies that put Dorothy and the Lion to sleep, while the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were unaffected, because they were not made of flesh and blood and they carried Dorothy to safety, beyond the poppy field. (So much one can find out from Wikipedia.)

Poppy seeds are also used as a condiment on bagels and bread. Poppy oil is used as a cooking oil.

Yet when I look at the beautiful Papaver orientale or Papaver somniferum; I only see it’s aesthetic beauty and seldom ever pay any attention to its other lethally harmful or medicinal properties.

I love to watch them dancing in the breeze.

There are also beautiful poems written about the poppies.

POPPIES
“The strange bright dancers are in the garden

The wind of summer is a soft music

Scarlet and orange, flaming and golden

The strange bright dancers move to music.”

By P.A.Ropes

Posted by Pat Feinstein at 4:27 PM | Permalink

Comments

Pat, your garden and its photos continue to stun.

Since this is a garden blog, I'd like to hear about the care and feeding of these poppies. Did you originally buy well-rooted perennials? Have you started any from seed?

And, as always from me, do any grow outside full sun?

Sheila Lennon | May 31, 2008 4:25 PM link

These poppies require no special cares. I use liquid fertilzers for most annuals, but seldom use on perennials.
Yes, I originally bought well-rooted perennials. I have no lucks with seeds, except for the self-seeded Morning Glory, Cosmo, Portulaca, Ocra, and Borage.
My backyard has less sun than the front, and some did not grow as big and full as others.
This year I've noticed several new young poppy plants , about 1 ft. tall although only one of them had a bud ( and this one is
practically under the Japanese weeping Cherry tree). These must have been self-seeded. I take no credit for them, but am very happy about it.

pat | May 31, 2008 5:32 PM link

You have made my day with your beautiful photos of the poppies and the wonderful stories about them. I love the Wizard of OZ and the story line now makes perfect sense that the flowers were poppies and made Dorothy and the Lion sleepy. You do learn something new every day.

Again, it is a sad fact, that something so beautiful can be so deadly.

I saw "Poppies Dancing In The Breeze" up the street the other day. It reminded me of Memorial Day and the poem "IN FLANDERS FIELD."

The poem has been considered the most popular poem produced by war, written by a Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae on May 3, 1915 and first published on December 8 the same year in Punch Magazine. The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders where the war casualties had been buried and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

You probably know that the poppy is the symbol of the American Legions.

Do poppies just bloom in the Spring or do they continue blooming throughout the summer?

Once again, you are not only a good friend but a wonderful teacher. Thank you for sharing your gifts of photography.

arlene | June 1, 2008 6:34 PM link

Arlene,

Thank you so much.

That is a beautiful and very meaningful poem. I hope everyone should know it and know why and how it was written.

Poppies, like most perennials only last about 3-6 weeks or so; then you'll just have to wait until next year.

pat | June 1, 2008 7:11 PM link

That really is a beautiful poem. "If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep".

Beth | June 10, 2008 9:57 AM link

Yes - Beth. It was beautiful. I did not even realize that in the TV special "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?", Linus recites the poem while standing in front of the remains of WWI. Also, I could not recall the scene in the film Mr. Holland's Opus, that a high school football coach reads the poem at the funeral of one of his former players, who was killed in action in Vietnam. I must see that movie again.

pat | June 10, 2008 10:28 AM link

It is nice. I like it very much.

tom | June 30, 2008 12:32 AM link

May 31, 2008

The Oriental Poppy

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