Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Himalayan Blue Poppy

It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find two of them in bloom yesterday, 27 June 2018. I almost missed them, as they were hidden in a tangle of trees and tall plants. The sun was shining, but it was quite windy, as so often happens when I go there. I used to love going to this garden, usually after I had been volunteering in the same part of the city. Since I stopped volunteering there, I only get a rare visit. Yesterday, I decided I had better go, or the plants would be in seed before I finally made it there. This was the first time I had been this year. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html Shortly before I left the garden, I noticed a lady standing on the path ahead of me, beckoning me to quietly keep walking towards her. When I reached her, she kindly pointed to a bird of prey perched in one of the trees. I'm not sure of the ID, but think it might be a Cooper's Hawk - I have seen them there before. Unfortunately, it was almost completely in shadow and had its back towards us, but I did manage to get a shot when it happened to turn its head just enough to catch the sun, and I was able to see its red eye. The tip of its tail, seen in some of my other photos, was curved, not straight.

Wow, mid-afternoon today, 28 June 2017, thunder, lightning and heavy rain just blew in! Lightning Alert is in effect. Temperature is 17C. So glad I went to the Reader Rock Garden yesterday, not today. It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find them in bloom yesterday, 27 June 2017. The sun was shining and, for the first time in quite a while, it wasn't windy, just a very slight breeze. I used to love going to this garden, usually after I had been volunteering in the same part of the city. Since I stopped volunteering (after a volunteer 'career' of 37 years!), I haven't been going. Yesterday, I decided I had better go, or the plants would be in seed before too long. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

It just feels very strange to see blue petals instead of bright orange or red bursting from this Poppy bud : ) This is a beautiful Himalayan Blue Poppy, seen at the Reader Rock Garden on 25 June 2014. It is always a joy to see these beautiful, large Poppies, though they seem to grow in the shade, and I never find them easy to photograph. At least this bud was out in the sunshine. Apparently, they are not easy to grow, either. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

After posting quite a few cold, wintry images recently, I thought I'd post a photo of a different subject this morning. It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find them in bloom on 24 June 2015. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find them in bloom on 24 June 2015. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

Our weather forecast is for snow flurries this morning (23 March 2015) and light snow this afternoon. Temperature early today is -5C (windchill -8C). Supposed to be double digits in a few more days - in fact (so far) 17C on Friday! So, I felt like a splash of different colour in my photostream and found it in this photo of a Himalayan Blue Poppy that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden, on 25 June 2014. It is always a joy to see these beautiful, large Poppies, though they seem to grow in the shade, and I never find them easy to photograph. Apparently, they are not easy to grow, either. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

These beautiful Himalayan Blue Poppies seem to grow in the shade, and I never find them easy to photograph. This photo isn't as sharp as I would like it to have been. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html I'm posting my photos later than usual this morning, after sleeping in. Yesterday evening, I didn't get home till 10:00 p.m., and so ended up getting to bed in the early hours of this morning. I was out all evening on Don Stiles' annual Bluebird Route trip. Don has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years, so has great experience with Bluebirds - also with Tree Swallows and an occasional Wren that also use the wooden nest boxes! This time, we didn't see any baby Bluebirds, as all the young ones had already fledged and none of the pairs had a second clutch. We did see nest boxes with tiny Tree Swallow eggs in the nest, and also several nest boxes that had baby Tree Swallows in, around 12 days old. One box had 12 babies in - obviously belonging to two adult females! Can't imagine how they will all cope when they get bigger. Another great evening, Don - thanks so much for taking a few of us out with you! Nice to see a very distant Baltimore Oriole - my first for this year - and various other birds, too. According to the weather forecast, it looks like we are in for more very hot weather - love the sunshine, but can't cope with the high temperatures.

It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find them in bloom on 25 June 2014. "Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions." www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html

This unbelievably gorgeous Himalayan Blue Poppy was growing at the Reader Rock Garden back in June. Definitely need some bright colour today - the weather is atrocious, as a major snow storm has blown in! I'm not stepping outside my front door for the next two days. To help me get through this, I gave into temptation and bought a large Stollen from Safeway (rather like a fruit bread with some almond paste in the centre - mmm,,,)

I don't know what this flower is called (Doug, are you out there?). It almost looked like a hanging light. For the first time, this year, some of the flowers are pink instead of blue. Later: this is a Himalayan Blue Poppy.