Summer has surely arrived when the poppies bloom. Here's a roadside planting of Shirley poppies in Langley, on Whidbey Island, their silky texture and sweet shades enhanced by bristly disks of blue, blue bachelor buttons. I'd guess most are self-seeded because it's always the reds that come back so vigorously - unfortunately the salmon, cream and white poppies never seem to persist as enthusiastically year to year. Still, have you ever seen such a gorgeous swathe of poppies since Dorothy and friends lay down for a nap, overcome by the narcotic scent of opium poppies in the Wizard of Oz? Shirley poppies are more benign, but every bit as beautiful. Right across the street from this riot of color is the starkly sculptural contrast of a farmer's golden fields and bales of hay (bottom photo) - as picturesque as an Andy Goldsworthy piece.
