Columbus Would Have Stayed

Written by Lynn Pitts

Separating the holidays of Columbus Day (October 12) and Veteran’s Day (November 11) is Will Rogers' (one of my heroes) birthday on November 4. He once said it was fortunate for Columbus’s subsequent fame to have landed on the Atlantic side of America instead of the Pacific side. If he had landed in California, he never would've gone back home, even to tell the Queen of Spain. Yup, Christopher C. would have happily stayed in our Golden State and nobody would have ever known about him. In any event, Autumn is here and the above holidays are good benchmarks for planting.

I've always tried to plant sweet pea flower seeds on Columbus Day. They will be able to germinate while the soil is warm enough and get a head start to be in full bloom by February. Soak the seeds 12 hours in water, then drain; soak no longer or they'll start decaying and won't sprout. If you don't have a trellis for them to climb up, no worries. Plant the short or bush varieties (“Bijou,” “Knee-Hi,” etc.) in large pots, maybe with asparagus fern for an English garden look in spring. The actual flower and later the seed pod of sweet peas look amazingly like regular garden pea plants, hence their name. Their fragrance is unbeatable with a clean, sweet perfume. To prolong their flowering, cut the flowers regularly and remove all seedpods.

This is a great time to scatter Bachelor Buttons, Larkspur, Hollyhocks, and all the wildflower seed mixes directly onto damp, well-cultivated soil. Top with a light coating (no more than ¼ inch) of the least expensive potting soil you can find. Tamp down with the flat of your hand to “fix” the seeds in place. Lightly mist the planting area with water until they sprout and then normal irrigation from then on will do the trick.

Of all the fall planted seeds, poppies are, in Mrs. P’s opinion, the most poignant and touchingly beautiful. Given the enormous sadness our country experienced on September 11, 2001, I would like to propose planting poppy seeds as a fitting 10 year memorial. While there are numerous varieties in different colors and shapes, the scarlet red poppy, known as the Flanders Field Poppy, is the universal symbol of remembrance for all the dead soldiers in two World Wars. No one can say when this flower arrived in Western Europe or North America, as it’s not a native, thus a botanical mystery. It only grows on cultivated land and is not a wildflower (as is our own California poppy, but that’s another story). Evidently, poppy seeds will lie underground for years and bloom if plowed up or, as in the Flanders Field Poppy’s case, the ground was disturbed by the intense shelling and shrapnel during battle. The story of the Flanders Field Poppy is heartrending, if you've not heard it, and tied to Remembrance Day throughout Europe and Great Britain (called Veteran’s Day in the U.S.). World War I ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.

My story begins with a Canadian Colonel, a battlefield doctor, who wrote a poem after a battle in France in 1915. Part of it goes: “In Flanders Field the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row...if ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields.” The doctor unfortunately died of war wounds six months before the Armistice was signed. An American woman was so stirred after reading the poem, she started wearing an enameled poppy on her lapel. Then, a French woman took this idea and thought to make up artificial colored paper poppies which could be sold to help veterans. Next, the British Legion opened a factory employing disabled veterans to make colored paper poppies to sell. Having visited Europe and England several times during Remembrance Day week, I can tell you millions of people from Royalty and Prime Ministers on down sport a paper poppy in their lapel. Our own veterans groups used to sell poppies one week prior to our American Memorial Day which is in May. This is actually when many poppy varieties bloom and what the Canadian Colonel was referring to in his famous poem.

In our Bakersfield climate, poppy seeds will rest in the ground through the winter and bloom in early spring. As an aside, this is Mrs. P’s Seed Planting Doctrine: strew many, many more seeds than you think you'll need. Consider it insurance; one never gets 100 percent germination. Extras can be transplanted or given to friends and family. Be sure to share the Flanders Field Poppy story as a memento of their history. Flanders Field poppies are also known as Shirley poppies. If you can't find this variety locally, I can recommend Bluestone Garden (www.bluestonegarden.com) as a good source and the shipping is free. All poppy varieties have very tiny seeds and one package may hold hundreds if not thousands. My Big Trick is to put the seed packs into clean, dry, self-closing plastic bags and refrigerate for two weeks. Then, fill a large, empty coffee can with clean sand and add the poppy seeds. Mix well. I use chopsticks. Scatter the contents on a damp, cultivated area and keep lightly moist. Instead of just dumping the seed/sand mixture in one area, try to scatter a handful here, a handful there around your garden.

Mix varieties by all means. Save the dried pods in paper bags, shake out the seeds for another year’s planting and use the interesting pods in flower arrangements. I glue them onto wreaths. Other poppies I plant are, naturally, California poppies, the official flower of Kern County as well as the State of California. They are a true native of California and were discovered by a German plant explorer in the early 19th century. Their botanic name is Eschscholzia which I understand was the plant explorer’s name (Herr Dockter Eschscholz) and, no, I can't pronounce it either. As a native Californian, one of my first memories as a child was seeing hills covered with bright orange California poppies. Other poppy varieties include Breadbox poppies, whose seed has been used in cooking for thousands of years; Danish Flag poppies, which looks like this Scandinavian country’s flag; and even the St. George’s Cross Poppy, which shows a perfectly-formed black cross inside the bloom. There are poppy varieties in the palest of pastels to vibrant reds, salmon, lilac, and soft blues.

As our country has been reflecting upon the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and all that has happened, it is important to remember that to be a gardener is to be optimistic for the future. Who knows what will happen in the world tomorrow. Today, let’s plant poppies for those who have sacrificed and to honor those who are returning home...all heroes in our eyes.

images ©iStockphoto.com/fotolinchen/hsvrs/gardendata

Article appeared in our 28-4 Issue - October 2011