Red Poppies of Flanders Fields

At 11am on the 11th November 1918 the guns of the Western front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. In the devastation of the trenches only one small delicate flower continued to grow, the Red Poppy. Its seeds some of which may have lain dormant in the soil for years, thrived amongst so much destruction.

Three years before the guns fell silent Lt Col. Doctor John McCrae, a Canadian, described this in his poem 'In Flanders Fields'.

In 1918 after the guns fell silent an American lady Moina Michael so touched by John McCrae's words wrote her own poem in response 'We Shall Keep Faith' and promised to wear a poppy in memory of the dead, and so the tradition of wearing a poppy on Remembrance day was born.

In 1921 Frenchwoman Madame Guerin persuaded Earl Haig that the Red Poppy of Flanders should be adopted by the Royal British Legion as a symbol of Remembrance after selling poppies to raise money for the devastated areas of France.

In 1922 Major George Howson, the founder of the Disabled society suggested to the Royal British Legion that members of his society could make poppies and from then on the poppy factory provided employment to disabled people, who in turn raised funds for ex service personnel.

Today one can see around the villages of North Hampshire, memorials to our war dead. On Remembrance Sunday and Armistice day poppies are laid in commemoration.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place, and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 WE SHALL KEEP FAITH

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields

Sleep sweet-to rise anew

We caught the torch you threw

And holding high we keep the faith

With all who died

And now the torch and poppy red

We wear in honour of our dead

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TOP TEN humorous garden jokes, quotes, puns and quips

My TOP TEN humorous garden quotes and quips I've heard around. Please add any you've heard in the comments section.

1) New Gardeners learn by Trowel and Error

2) Grow your own dope-Plant a man

3) Gardening requires a lot of water, most of it in the form of perspiration

4) My mothers menu consisted of two choices, take it-or leave it

5) A man should never plant a garden larger than his wife can take care of

6) What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter? Pumpkin pi

7) What does the letter 'A' have in common with a flower? They both have bees coming after them

8) 'A favourite of birds' means avoid planting near cars and clothes lines

9) After all is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done

10) The one good thing about snow is it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbours

Don't forget to any yours in comments

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Evergreen Winter yellow flowering spiky leaved shrub: Mahonia

Baroness Delores Whittingham lives in a pretty village in the Bourne Valley. A keen socialite  'Dibbers' Whittingham is approaching her retirement with gusto. Since her husband died a few years ago she and I have changed the garden considerably giving the whole thing somewhat of a fresh look by adding a range of plants that would give us colour throughout the year in leaf and flower.

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The Mahonia is an evergreen flowering shrub that we have added because it can give wonderful Autumn colour. Indeed it is not unusual for them to continue flowering until March with Yellow flowers appearing on spiky stems above green holly-like leaves.

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The Mahonia is a shrub that thrives best in dappled or full shade. Once planted they require very little maintenance and remain very healthy and disease-free in most soil conditions.

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After flowering this hardy shrub  produces purple berries in clusters, which complement its glossy leaves

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When planting Mahonia as with any shrub you should soak the root ball or submerge its pot in a bucket before you plant it and mix in a handful of fish blood and bone to your compost. Pruning should only be done after flowering has finished, but it is not generally required, except when it is necessary to remove dead stems. They are quite slow growing, but this particular variety Mahonia x media Winter Sun will eventually grow to approximately 4m

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