Storm Barney is still raging so I’m distracting myself by pretending it’s still summer and looking at photos of beautiful flowers.
This is the Peony flowered poppy Papaver paeoniflorum which has a beautiful frilly centre to each flower. They are full of pollen and there is enough room in the centre of each bloom to allow bees and other insects to land and collect the goodies. The papery petals are palest pink with splashes of deeper pink at the base of each one.
The buds and seed pods of this poppy are very similar to Papaver somniferum. The seed pods make good long lasting decorations but the poppy flowers only last a couple of days in a vase. Even so these particular poppies are well worth growing because they are just so beautiful.
