I'm not sure how I feel about these poppies. They are certainly colourful and interesting flowers but they feel a bit alien in my garden, from their prickly buds, to their strange way of opening, as if they are wearing silly hats, to the odd centres that seem to be staring at me, and now, this rather ugly way their petals have of disintegrating at the end. Given a bit longer they will turn into interesting, but quite sedate, green seed heads still, in the meantime, they seem like exotic creatures accidentally turned loose in my more traditional garden. It's like I opened my back door one day to find a Komodo dragon browsing in my bushes, instead of the usual bunnies and squirrels.
I like these grand old gals, they are still holding their heads high as they age. I like your comment about the dragon but, then I am rather fond of them, at least in theory.
