There’s a couple of big flower-orientated events coming up in Tauranga so hope to see you there as I will be at both! By the way, from what I know of the centrepiece of the orchid show, it should be something special.The show will be back to its usual September dates in 2024, but this year has opted for a mid-year show to leave time and energy for the National Orchid Expo at Orchids & More at Mystery Creek Events Centre from September 29-October 1.
The floral theatre event is a one-off, so don’t miss out. I have been to a ‘floral theatre’ done by Francine Thomas and it was spectacular. With Phubast’s vast experience, this should be a night to remember.
Papaver rhoeas is native to many parts of the world, from west Asia to Europe and in North Africa, and has many common names including ‘soldier poppy’ and ‘Flanders poppy’. Since World War 1 it has been used in Commonwealth countries as a symbol for the fallen in the serving armed forces.
As we approach Anzac Day (April 25) – remembrance day for New Zealand and Australia – installations begin to appear, often grassed areas ‘planted’ with white crosses and red paper poppies. This year a new installation has appeared in Tauranga, thanks to Ninja Knits.
A circlet of 600 knitted and crocheted poppies has been added to one of the black walnut trees beside Fraser St to commemorate this year’s Anzac Day. Photo: Sandra Simpson
A small laminated poem on the tree is dedicated to those who served in the Vietnam War, veterans who have often had to fight for recognition.
A single soldier poppy plant can produce up to 400 flowers in a warm season, but the blooms last only one day.
Wikipedia tells us that it has most of the characteristics of a successful agricultural weed, including having an annual lifecycle that fits that of most cereals, the ability to flower and seed before the crop is harvested, and the ability to form a long-lived seed bank.
A kitchen garden resplendent with self-sown poppies. Photo: Sandra Simpson
Due to the huge ground disturbance in World War 1 caused by bombing and trench building, these poppies popped up and flowered on the battlefields.The poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian doctor John McCrae was inspired by the death of a close friend in the April 1915 battle in Belgium’s Ypres salient where, for 17 days, McCrae tended those injured in the battle.
He was transferred that year to Boulogne No.3 General Hospital and worked there until his pneumonia-related death on January 28, 1918, at the age of 45. McCrae was buried with full military honors in Wimereux Cemetery near Boulogne, France. His family home in Guelph, Ontario is preserved as a museum, and the main street in Wimereux, near Boulogne is now named Rue McCrae.
Paper poppy wreaths at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. Photo: Sandra Simpson
If you have the time, the following video is worth a look. I was at a friend’s funeral this week and she was carried out to Howard Morrison singing Blue Smoke. In the middle of the song, he spoke a short piece about how it was written during World War 2, something I hadn’t appreciated. In 2015, musician Neil Finn sought out Jim Carter who had played in the group that made New Zealand’s first gramaphone recording in 1949, Blue Smoke. The group was led by the author of the song, Ruru Karaitiana, who had written it on a troop ship off the coast of North Africa, and the song was performed by Pixie Williams.
Sandra's Garden 