Wood Poppy

In the pre-coronavirus schedule I'd drawn up for April, I would have been spending a good part of today getting ready for a presentation I was asked to make for a group of gardeners about local pollinators. But that program, like every other public event that I planned, has been either cancelled outright, or, in an abundance of optimism, postponed with an eye towards a more hopeful autumn. In the meanwhile, I did receive a kind of gift from the garden club. The woman who coordinated my appearance there last year gave me several lovely plants from her gorgeous garden, but whenever you put something into new ground, you can never be quite certain that the youngsters will thrive in a different setting, however much care and love you lavish on your charges. Praise be, the garden gods were good to me, and though I was sad that I wouldn't be able to preach to a congregation of welcoming enthusiasts this week, I was cheered with the appearance of a quite happy Wood Poppy—a reminder of better times ahead.