Pearl Poppies

I'm just returning home from a few days of wonderful weather, lovely gardens, good food and meeting blogging friends at the Garden Bloggers Fling in Asheville, North Carolina. It was my first time going and, to be honest, I'm kind of overwhelmed--so much, so little time! I can't wait to sort through the photos and make some sense out of all the literature, notes, souvenirs and nice treats we got.

In the meantime, I pulled out this photo (which I love, don't you?!) to show you a highlight of the trip for me--the poppies in Christopher Mello's west Asheville garden.

Christopher started with an heirloom seed mix called "Pearl" that has delicate shades of white, pink, purple, and blue.  Every year he pulls out the red ones that inevitably show up ("Poppies reeeally want to be red," he says) and allows the remaining pale-colored ones to reseed.  Now he has a refined mix of poppies with mostly white, gray and blue shades that he's calling "Blue Pearl."

I don't know if this poppy with the red base will make it into the "Blue Pearl" mix, but it couldn't be more beautiful.

~*~

The Fling was an incredible experience!  To all the planners, organizers, sponsors and gardeners who opened up their gardens to us--bless you, and thank you so very much!