43. Poppies

Ladybird poppy

The ladybird poppies glow like hot coals, lighting up the Bealtaine  garden. They are native to the Middle East and their fiery desert colour looks great against the greenness of an Irish garden.

Poppies and standing stones

Like our native poppy, ladybird poppies were common flowers of the cornfields but are becoming increasingly scarce due to herbicide use. They produce vast quantities of tiny seeds that can lie dormant in the ground for many decades, suddenly bursting into growth when the ground is disturbed.

Interestingly, the Irish name for our native poppy is cailleach dhearg, the red crone or hag, suggesting a goddess association. And in Roman mythology poppies were sacred to the harvest goddess Ceres, who wore them in a wreath or held them in her hand with stalks of corn.

In the Garden today each poppy is like a miniature goddess and I am a happy worshiper.