Poppies

[Kerne]

I have been driving past this field of poppies every day on the way to work for a couple of weeks, thinking: I must remember to bring my camera!

Yesterday I took a wander up and took some pics:

There doesn't seem to be a crop in the field - just the poppies. Any suggestions as to why?

 

[pwb]

Beautiful pictures Kerne and ,as always with poppies , very poignant.

As to why they are there , could the field have been sewn in grass for grazing and not been sprayed off .

 

[_scorpio_]

someone likes poppies...
opium?

 

[Kerne]

someone likes poppies...
opium?

Perhaps there's a Gloucestershire "Golden Triangle" that I don't know anything about!

 

[g4ghb]

you have to get the seeds from somewhere to go on that yummy bread I guess

nice pics though btw - i particularly like the first one!

 

[brancho]

Thats nice to see. I like the last two shots best

 

[Melonfish]

hay field, poppies usually grow in the fields farmers leave late for cutting hay.
most farmers use silage now which is just several types of grass but very little flowers.
others still hold hay fields where lots of wildflowers grow, its a massive area for field voles and mice and helps feed the birds of prey as well as a colosal habitat for insects.
then of course you get good dry stuff out of it (if the weather is nice)
shame its dissapearing tho, there's some campaigns at the moment asking farmers to help keep this type of field so the wee beasties can thrive!
Pete

 

[locum76]

hay field, poppies usually grow in the fields farmers leave late for cutting hay.
most farmers use silage now which is just several types of grass but very little flowers.
others still hold hay fields where lots of wildflowers grow, its a massive area for field voles and mice and helps feed the birds of prey as well as a colosal habitat for insects.
then of course you get good dry stuff out of it (if the weather is nice)
shame its dissapearing tho, there's some campaigns at the moment asking farmers to help keep this type of field so the wee beasties can thrive!
Pete

Good reply Pete. I'd have said the same. It may just be fallow though rather than hay.

They are the wrong poppies for opium by the way...

 

[Kerne]

hay field, poppies usually grow in the fields farmers leave late for cutting hay.
most farmers use silage now which is just several types of grass but very little flowers.
others still hold hay fields where lots of wildflowers grow, its a massive area for field voles and mice and helps feed the birds of prey as well as a colosal habitat for insects.
then of course you get good dry stuff out of it (if the weather is nice)
shame its dissapearing tho, there's some campaigns at the moment asking farmers to help keep this type of field so the wee beasties can thrive!
Pete

The only other things growing in the field, that I could discern, were thistles. I reckon it's probably just fallow (set aside?).

 

[Melonfish]

Although the wrong poppies for opium, am i right in saying the seeds still taste fantastic in fresh baked bread
possibly fallow aye, the last field i saw for hay had a fantastic mix of deep red, pink and yellow with a green undertone. lots of buzzards out that day too

 

[Acorn62]

Although the wrong poppies for opium, am i right in saying the seeds still taste fantastic in fresh baked bread
)

We have opium poppies growing here (no I'm not in Afghanistan) they are a medical crop and are just coming into flower - I'll go take some photos later and post them. The crop last year was the first and a bit controversial but apparently not of the same type as the "normal" opium poppy but beautiful all the same and contrast nicely with the traditional red ones growing beside them.

 

[JonathanD]

I haven't seen a poppy field in years. Last time I saw one was in the south of France. Amazing sight.

 

[Nagual]

I haven't seen a poppy field in years. Last time I saw one was in the south of France. Amazing sight.

Like wise, except it was somewhere around Arras and Paris.

 

[JonathanD]

Like wise, except it was somewhere around Arras and Paris.

What is is about French fields? Some of them are breathtaking.

 

[Taffy63]

I read that poppy seeds can lie dormant for many years and need the soil to be disturbed before germinating. This field may have been ploughed last year and left fallow, hence the poppies. I think that is why lots of poppies appeared in the fields in France after the first world war and became a symbol of rememberance.
Nigel

 

[Ironside]

Excellent pics. I have never seen more than a few poppies at the edge of a field.

 

[locum76]

I believe Afghan poppies have to flower in temperatures above at least 30 degrees centigrade before they produce anything near 'medicinal'.