California Poppies are blooming everyplace, including the UC Botanical Garden. Their bright orange silky-shiny petals are such a treat! This has been a familiar plant for so long, I thought I knew everything about it, but there is always something new to learn. Like, it can be an annual or a perennial, depending on the climate. Or, native americans used the orange pollen to color their cheeks. Or, what surprised me the most, it can be invasive. A native plant can be a weed in its native range? Crazy!
It's one of my favourite garden plants here in England.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is true, but I once read somewhere that the colour of the flower varies depending on the altitude and how far inland a plant is growing.
The color does vary. There are several subspecies, varieties and hybrids. I love the deep orange and dark maroon ones.
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