Remembrance, Survival and The Red Poppy
Once upon a time, I had poppies (papaver orientalis) in my garden, the traditional scarlet; I am all about tradition after all. Poppy leaves are not beautiful: they are coarse, hairy, spikey, and they splay out everywhere, uncaring of order, untamed. Out of this coarse, hairy mound, the plant sends up tall, rounded spikes with a fuzzy, football-shaped bud that…