This year, instead of using my large raised bed for planting vegetables or other practical plants, I planted a whole box of flowers, specifically poppies. I long for poppies when I see them in other peoples' yards and this year, I wanted my own. Early in the spring I put in six different seed packets to see what would actually come up. Here are the varieties I used from Botanical Interests:
And here's the result (two months later):
Because most poppies are short lived, I also put in nasturtiums and sunflowers to make sure there were flowers for the whole summer.
One thing I would do differently: plant fewer nasturtiums, find medium-sized plants to go along the front of the box. Who knew that poppies would grow over three feet high?!
Now I have many many seed pods for decor and as a source for seeds to plant next year.
Here are more pics of my flowers and their names:
Bread Seed Organic Poppy
Papaver - somniferum
Shirley Single Blend Poppy
Papaver - rhoeas
Peony Poppy Double Blend
Papaver - somniferum var. paeoniflorumIceland Nudicaule Blend Poppy
Papaver - nudicauleCalifornia Poppy - Orange
Eschscholzia - californicaFlanders American Legion Poppy
Papaver - rhoeas
Yes, completely empty. We hired my brother-in-law, who's a landscaper to help us create garden spaces in the front and back yard. The most expensive part was the labor, including sod removal, bark mulch and soil application and rock placement. Here's the yard right after we put in all of the plants.
On my other blog, I wrote annual outside bed posts, but since that blog is on hiatus, I'm posting pic of my current outside bed. It's a bed roll from Urban Outfitters on a pine frame made by my husband Chris. That boy is handy! And since we have killer squirrels in the yard and a never ending rainy season here in Oregon, I wrapped the bedroll with thick plastic and then covered it in white canvas. Pretty fab, no?
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