No, I’m not into the drugs made from the seed pods of these poppies. I just think they’re beautiful flowers.
There are many types of poppies, but I didn’t know, even after years of growing them, that these pretty flowers belong to the poppy family that heroin and opium are made from.
They’re just tall and beautiful flowers.
I come from Turkey, don’t you know,
My seeds are not too hard to sow,
And once I’ve bloomed, again I’ll grow,
Reseeding when the wind does blow.
wordsfromanneli 
June 18, 2023 at 11:58 am
They are lovely flowers, Anneli! For some reason, the word poppy reminds me of The Wizard Of Oz movie and the scene where Dorothy runs through the poppy field and falls asleep because of the wicked wicked witch’s spell. 😊
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June 18, 2023 at 12:08 pm
It’s probably a reference to the opium component, although it wouldn’t really have an effect unless the juice was collected from the pods and then processed. But it makes a nice “fantasy” connection.
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June 18, 2023 at 12:09 pm
Yes it does, and I have no idea how to process that into an evil drug. How did someone even come up with the idea to do that? Yuck.
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June 18, 2023 at 12:14 pm
You can see on the internet that they make cuts in the seed pod when it’s still green and they collect the milky juice. Don’t forget that heroin has its good uses too. Without painkillers we would be in big trouble when we need them during an operation. Of course it’s all refined and probably produced some other way now, but originally, it came in handy as a major painkiller.
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June 18, 2023 at 2:11 pm
I see, thanks for this. The word Heroin creeps me out, sounds horrible. I’ve had my share of pain killers during hospital visits…
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June 18, 2023 at 12:15 pm
One of my childhood homes was atop a hill filled with poppies. That when I learned their storied history. Beautiful pictures, Anneli.
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June 18, 2023 at 12:16 pm
That must have been so beautiful, Jacqui. I love poppies of all sorts.
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June 18, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Beautiful flowers, I love to see the large fields of them when I drive trough the countryside. Aren´t the seeds used for baking?
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June 18, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Yes, my mother used to use poppy seeds a lot for baking. Not sure what kind of poppies they were. I’m sure she just bought the seeds at the grocery store. They’re quite good.
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June 18, 2023 at 12:45 pm
I like poppies so much – very pretty and I love how they re-seed themselves. I always knew about the other uses for the seeds but I think that the ones we buy now are hybridised in order to reduce the potential for opium/heroin production. Cheers.
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June 18, 2023 at 4:04 pm
LOL I haven’t checked it out, but that makes sense.
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June 18, 2023 at 1:15 pm
They are so pretty! 😊🌺
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June 18, 2023 at 4:02 pm
I do love poppies!
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June 18, 2023 at 1:54 pm
Great pictures, Anneli, of lovely blossoms.
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June 18, 2023 at 4:02 pm
Thanks, Pit.
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June 18, 2023 at 2:00 pm
gosh, these are gorgeous. Reminiscent of silks and watercolors. Didn’t tulip come from Turkey, too?
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June 18, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Very good, Luanne! Persia/Iran – close enough. No one is sure. I did a post about it four years ago. https://wordsfromanneli.com/2019/04/13/the-tulips-story/
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June 19, 2023 at 1:07 pm
Oh, i remember that post now! Tulips are such a part of the subculture I grew up in, but they really aren’t my cup of tea. I love the poppies so much more.
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June 19, 2023 at 1:41 pm
I think I really started to love tulips when I went to the Tulip Festival at La Conner in Washington and I smelled the fragrance of the fields of tulips. Before that, I wasn’t aware that tulips had any smell at all. So delicate. But yes, they are rather rigid compared to sweet poppies in their flowing crepe dresses.
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June 19, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Exactly , very rigid.
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June 18, 2023 at 2:38 pm
Love the poppies. I have some in my back yard, as well and always look forward to them blooming. Happy Sunday Anneli. Allan
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June 19, 2023 at 7:42 am
They’re tough to be able to grow up there.
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June 18, 2023 at 2:57 pm
I’m especially fond of our native poppies, but I like these, too. Over the years I’ve collected just a few pieces of hand-painted or decaled china that have poppies on them, so I can have poppies all year round!
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June 18, 2023 at 3:57 pm
Great idea, Linda. There are many kinds of poppies and, like you, I love them all.
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June 18, 2023 at 3:03 pm
They are beautiful. I think I was too late to photography them here 😏
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June 18, 2023 at 4:43 pm
I love poppies as well. They are bursting out all over the garden right now. (oh, and you may want to edit your one reply to a post where you have written “There are many kinds of poopies and, like you I love them all.” I do agree with that statement, but somehow I think you meant to type “poppies” and not “poopies”. Ha ha ha ha ha. Have a good evening! Hugs.
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June 18, 2023 at 5:02 pm
Oh, YIKES! I fixed it. Thank you, Sonja. I’m still laughing. OMG!!!!!
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June 18, 2023 at 5:22 pm
They are big and beautiful. Remember Dorothy running through the field of poppies in The Wizard of Oz? I guess they knew, too.
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June 18, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Yes, I remember being very worried about whether she’d get through without falling asleep.
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June 19, 2023 at 4:01 am
Me, too.
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June 19, 2023 at 2:09 am
Dear Anneli
great pictures 👍
We especially like the dark violet poppies.
Thanks for sharing
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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June 19, 2023 at 7:39 am
Thanks, KB. My favourites too.
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June 19, 2023 at 3:37 am
So beautiful! Thanks, Anneli.
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June 19, 2023 at 4:33 am
Loved the photos and the poem. I remember watching “The Wizard of OZ,” when I was young and wondering why the field of poppies made them fall asleep. 🙂
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June 19, 2023 at 7:37 am
Me too. It was years before I learned about the opium connection (and still it’s a stretch to think she would fall asleep, but I now see the origin of the idea).
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June 19, 2023 at 6:29 am
Beautiful photos, Anneli. I love poppies and we have orange all around here. But I had no idea about the drug aspect. Interesting.
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June 19, 2023 at 7:36 am
I think only this type that I’ve shown here is for opium, but I’m not sure. Not an expert on this topic. But the poppies of all sorts look beautiful to me.
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June 24, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Oh, I love poppies. It’s been a good year for them in my part of England. The common species here is the field poppy Papaver rhoeas but there are a few rarer ones here and there. Not seen any opium poppies…
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June 24, 2023 at 3:38 pm
We have them growing here all the time but, for a long time, I didn’t know they were the kind they get opium from.
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June 28, 2023 at 7:58 pm
Such pretty flowers 🌸
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June 30, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Beautiful flowers enhanced with your delightful verses!
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