
In addition to being a long-time symbol of remembrance, poppies’ opiate qualities making them symbols of sleep, peace, and death but also resurrection.In home gardens, the poppy is more commonly grown for its seeds, which can be used in cooking and baking. Most notably, the sap of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) has been harvested for use in pharmaceutical opiates and illicit drugs. The stalks and buds of some poppy species produce a milky, latex-like substance when cut. The poppy’s name comes from the Latin word pappa, meaning milk.


The flower buds are initially bent down before turning up as they open. Poppies vary in size quite a bit, but generally have delicate yet showy flowers of four to six petals surrounding many stamens the flowers grow on long, hairy stalks. The most recognizable poppy species are the Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule), Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale), and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). Member of the Papaveraceae family, poppies grow all over the world, including the temperate climates of Eurasia, Africa, and North America. To maximize your cut flowers, cut the spike between the second and fourth leaf when the first flower is showing color and immediately put in water. The flower is beautiful in a garden setting, as well as in containers and along borders, but it is most valued as a cut flower. The old corm dies, while the bud develops on the new corm. Each year, new corms form atop the old one.

Bulbs must be planted after the last frost and once the soil has warmed. The corms (root parts) of the gladiolus are tender and, in cold areas, should be dug up each fall and replanted the following spring. It also requires protection from strong winds, which can blow over its tall flower stalks.
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The gladiolus prefers full sun and rich, loamy, well-drained soil, although it will adapt to most soils. around the turn of the 20th century, which led to the creation of the American Gladiolus Society in Boston in 1910. In ancient Rome, the gladiolus was known as the flower of the gladiators, with spectators covering the winner of the fight in the colorful blooms. By the early 19th century, enthusiasts in England began the process of hybridizing the flowers and making them more well-suited to home gardens. The first South African species was brought to Europe in the mid-18th century.

