The Ojai Post

Looks like a good deal to me... :)

I'm going on the Garden Tour this Saturday - I can't wait to see the amazing flowers this year. Anyone else going?

The poppies where I'm at are sunburst color as well. Mmm...
Conspiracy? Conspiritus?

From Wikipedia: (let's see if I can make a link that actually works)

their color ranges from yellow to orange

nice job on the link, phalarope.

The weird thing is that these sunburst poppies are only yellow right next to the daisy bush with virtually the exact same shade of yellow. As if they were cross-pollinating?

Four feet away, poppies are the standard orange color. Huh.

these sunburst poppies are only yellow right next to the daisy bush with virtually the exact same shade of yellow.

They're trying to blend in?

I remember experimenting with aluminum sulfate and a hydrangea bush; it was possible to produce blue flowers on a bush that normally produced pink flowers, but if I applied the chemical sparingly to the ground on one side of the plant as suggested in the literature, I could produce different colored blooms on the same plant. Perhaps your poppies are reacting to something in the soil like a piece of iron or a buried aluminum can or a departed hamster?

Or a departed hamster buried in an aluminum can with a little iron headstone? I'll take a look.

Or a departed hamster buried in an aluminum can with a little iron headstone?

:)

One more thing....

Many plants put chemicals into the soil, mostly to discourage pests and competition from other plants. In some cases, these chemicals can kill other plants or retard their growth, and in other instances the effect seems to be more mutagenic. Plants that manage to take root near the various indigenous or naturalized mustards, for example, can be sterile, misshapen, and even oddly-colored.

It's also possible that the effect of these inhibiting substances might simply produce a mild color change in a nearby plant, or at least that might be the only change that we would notice with our eyes.

Happy May! My dear neigbors on all four sides (eight properties all together) are celebrating the first two days in May by having an ongoing all-day leaf blower party. It started yesterday morning and they seem to have it timed so that any blessed moment of silence lasts no more than a few minutes. From a distance I can see clouds of dust and a few innocent leaves whirling through the air. The dust is blowing over the fence into my yard and the hispanic worker, wearing a kerchief over his mouth and nostrills, is obviously just going through the motions. He is stirring up far more dirt than leaves and looks like he's dancing with the long hose of the leaf blower as he run to and fro chasing leaves that I'm sure would much prefer to quietly return to Mother Earth...

how do you know he's hispanic?

I assumed from his appearance that the gardener was of Hispanic ancestry. Most of the gardeners in my neighborhood are Spanish speaking Hispanic Americans. However, I cannot be certain. My father has black hair and brown skin and in the years that he was a gardener people often assumed he was Spanish or Mexican when in fact he was Indonesian.

Can't fool us, Suza...we know it's you.

You girls are so smart!

You must be getting some coaching from Wavy Davy...

You girls are so smart!

Thank you, Mom.

We have tiny eyes, but they're wide open.

Good night girls, sleep well...
sweet dreams of fresh white corn and alfalfa mush...