Papaver rhoeas, image from Kew Science
The annual red poppy is both fragile and fleeting, and both robust and enduring. Its vibrant coloured flowers have been symbols of remembrance and rebirth throughout history. So when I was asked if I was going to write a post about poppies for the centenary of the end of the Great War I thought I ought to, despite the fact that every other blog writer about history or gardens will probably be doing so too and I would be hard pressed for something new to say and that wasn’t heavily overladen with the imagery of Flanders.
Butterflies and Poppies – Van Gogh Museum
And how do you trace the history of a weed? because for all their ubiquitous imagery field poppies [Papaver rhoeas] are actually not that common as garden flowers, with surprisingly few cultivars, and almost none at all until the late 19thc. They are also easily confused in evidential terms with opium poppies [Papaver somniferum], which are equally beautiful but with a completely different set of emblematic and symbolic meanings.
And PS this is the 250th post!
