Last fall, I ordered a big ol’ packet of poppy seeds and spread them liberally in the front of the house. I also ordered a few packets of specialty poppies in pinks and reds and threw them around the garden. I also included orange California poppies in the mix. The only poppies that came up were the orange ones I threw in the garden as an afterthought. Figures.

A bee gathers pollen in a pink poppy

Since the poppies didn’t grow in the front this spring, save for one lone orange poppy by the fence, I purchased some starts when the local community college had a plant sale and planted them in my newly created front garden. They’re growing beautifully and enticing bees and ladybugs into the garden.

A ladybug chills out on the petal of an orange poppy.

This fall, I’ll order another large packet of poppy seeds and spread them liberally in the garden. Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as, “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Maybe I’m insane… or maybe I’m just a gardener.