Oriental Poppies Bursting!

The oriental poppies are ready to burst into bloom. I can hardly wait. Most oriental poppies are shades of organge and red, but these are a soft apricot peach. I love the color. Just before they bloom the whole plant is filled with buds, anticipating the moment they will flower forth. Oriental poppies are such an incredibly hardy, reliable, and long lived plant. Despite every possible weather condition known to exist through winter and early spring, they are undaunted. Their only drawback is that after they bloom the whole plant turns a rather unsightly brown. But when the blooming is finished, they can be cut back so that later blooming plants can fill in around them hiding their brown, and later in the summer they come forth with a lovely spray of new green leaves.