Origins
The poppy began to become associated with victims of war and conflict through graves amongst poppy fields mentioned in the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ in 1915. From there, Moina Michael was inspired by the poem and sought to promote and link poppies to remembrance, and the movement grew well into the 1920s to become widely accepted.
These poppies are red in colour, and are the ones traditionally associated with remembrance. There are other colours of poppies which link back to remembrance in different ways. The white poppy symbolises peace, and can be worn alongside the red poppy to show remembrance, and a hope for no more war and conflict. The purple poppy is used to honour the lives of animals who were victims during these times, with Khadi poppies worn to commemorate the support from those in India other Commonwealth nations during World War I.
Our Garden
We are very fortunate to have many poppies in our garden, usually red, yellow, orange and purple of the field variety. They grow over the summer months of June, July and August, though even as I write this in November, we still have a few along the edges of our paths. They’re great for bees and pollinators in general, and thankfully not poisonous to our cats!
We pick these from our garden to press and sell as part of our packs of pressed flowers/foliage. They come out really well, with their petals having a very soft papery feel about them. Although delicate, they can be used in a variety of ways, including resin art, in scrapbooking, journals and diaries, and are beautiful additions in card making.