Pop up sunshine

Though I love (other people's) gardens, I can at best be described as an 'occasional gardener' myself. Every now and again I have a spurt of interest to plant and water with intent, but when that fades, things either go rampant or die (often both in the same border at the same time!) I am nearly always delighted therefore with the pretty little wild things that choose to pop up bravely between the cracks and among the invited plants. I have no obligation other than to enjoy them. These little Welsh poppies (Meconopsis cambrica), sometimes orange and sometimes yellow, have short-lived flowers but I like them. They bring a little sunshine to the dark corners of my yard. This one, so newly 'hatched' that it still wears its sepal like a yarmulke, has petals as crumpled and fragile as a butterfly's wings.