Sunday, June 08, 2014

Pretty Purple Poppies

Last night I managed to get some pictures I wanted before it was too late.




These poppies are grown to provide morphine and other pain killers. They are also very beautiful, but only last a short while, the petals fall very quickly.



As we finished our walk at the end of a hot day, it started to rain. No surprise as the sky had begun to look very moody.


Then there was a rainbow – as always they look better in real life

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I love purple and your weather is much the same as over here. Today we had heavy bursts of rain, then sunshine and then a thunder storm which my little cat got caught in. He came through the cat flap like a bullet, but had enjoyed it and couldn't wait to have a meal...the poppies look as if they're made of tissue paper.
Best
Henry

Keith said...

I've neverseen purple poppies before. Didn't even know they existed!

Anji said...

Henry: Purple is my favourite colour. They are very fragile and like red poppies the petals soon drop.

Keith: They are grown in the UK too. Afghanistan is also a place where a lot are grown in order to supply Europe with heroin.

Linda said...

I've never seen purple poppies either. I love that stray red one amongst them.

Coline said...

They are being grown in the POISON garden where we visited at Alnwick castle yesterday...

Anji said...

Linda: there were more red poppies around the edges of the field. Perhaps he thought if he pretended to be purple no one would notice...

Coline: morphine is poisonous. What other plants did they have?

Caroline said...

I kept saying, " we grow that!" all the way round!

Rhubarb leaves will kill you in about 12 hours but boil them up in a stainless pan and it will shine up a treat.

Even giant vinca, which tries to streak everywhere and I thought just a nice blue ground cover can kill.

Rosemary oil will cause an abortion or deform a foetus if rubbed on the skin.

Giant hogweed will give you watery blisters but that is just the start, you will be photo sensitive for years and itch like crazy, we don't have that! Deadly nightshade I killed off last year but it had lovely berries which are not the most poisonous part of he plant, often that is the root.

Castor oil plant can make ricin, the most poisonous thing you can find, give assigns 24 hours to escape and there is no known antidote...

Laburnum seeds not to be chewed... Foxgloves,even aquilegia...

Catmint, one woman said her cat is addicted to it and stays high all summer!

Laurel, remember when there were so many butterflies that catching a few and mounting them on a pin was not seen as a bad thing?

Fitillary, one of my most favourite plants...

columbine, buttercup, jumper, hellebore, holly, yew, solomon's seal, rhododendron, Lilly of the valley Autumn crocus, bluebell, daffodil and ivy.

There must be more but brain has given up.

They got lots of stories from visitors but one of the best was one who's granny used to make almond cake during the war using laurel, many gardeners have trimmed a bush and put the cuttings in a car and been knocked out on the way to the dump!

Anyone fancy a slice of poison cake with their tea?

Anji said...

Caroline: I love your list. I knew about rhubarb, it's amazing that we all survived school stewed rhubarb.

The garden can be a dangerous place...