It makes me smile when my orange California Poppies start blooming. I didn't even really like them all that much when I was living in California, but leaving "home" can make a person long for the familiar things of that place. I planted this patch of poppies my first spring in Washington when I was feeling a bit homesick. They come back every year stronger and stronger. I was told all of the time growing up that it was illegal to pick the Golden State flower, so being a good little California girl, I never did. This explains why it was only last year that I learned that if you want to keep poppies in a vase of water, you have to burn the end of each stem with a match or lighter when you pick it. I wonder how many other transplants to the Pacific Northwest from California have learned that lesson once they moved? I couldn't possibly be the only one, could I?
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Oh! I didn't know that. I'd given up on picking the poppies I have. They are taking over the lawn, so I have plenty.
ReplyDeleteDara! Thanks for the tip about how to pick and use poppies as displays... I had no idea!
ReplyDeleteAlso it's only illegal on State property to pick the poppies.