I’ve always been slightly smitten with poppies. They seem so bright and happy. And the name fits perfectly. So I planted one in the garden several years ago.

Only to have my mom yank it out.

Three times.

She thought it was a weed. Every time I scolded her she’d dig a bit, plunk it back in and apologize profusely. And then, an hour later, there she goes again!

Miraculously, that plant is still living. Not so miraculously, it’s never grown much and it spits out a single flower if I’m lucky. (I reminded her of her vicious ways when she came for a visit last weekend. I’m spiteful like that.)

A single unreliable poppy just doesn’t cut it for me, though, so I got another plant last year and I kept my mom FAR AWAY from it. And now it’s blooming nicely. With several flowers. So I finally have my poppies! I group them in with my other favorites that I’ve made sure to include in my garden each year: peonies, hollyhocks, zinnias and sunflowers.

Those sprouts below are from a sunflower kit that Dev begged me to buy for him. They started to emerge just yesterday and we’ll get them out into the garden with the others we planted and watch them grow nice and tall. As long as I can keep the critters away from them.

A few of the other blooms that are making me smile right now…

And then two random cat photos. Because one is never enough.