Eschscholzia Californica
(California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight, cup of
gold) is a species of flowering plant in the Papaveraceae
family, native to the United States and Mexico and now
naturalised in the UK.
It is an
ornamental plant flowering in summer, with showy cup-shaped
flowers in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow
(occasionally pink). More and more often I am seeing these
with a variety of wildflower species in many of the "miniature
wildflower meadows" around Hampshire, planted to provide a
food source for our butterflies and bee's and help ensure
their survival.
This
particular Poppy was photographed outside HMS Collingwood
Naval Base in Fareham, Hampshire. Just outside the gate is a
small patch of grass with a wildflower planting measuring
around 12 mtrs long by 2 mtrs wide. This planting consisted
mostly of Antirrhinum's of various colours and Red Poppies,
with just a handful of California Poppies making an
appearance. These wildflowers are usually quite successful at
self seeding if the soil is good, so I expect to see more
there next year.
The
original photograph was taken on a very went and windy day,
and with water drops on the front of my macro lens focussing
was a bit of an issues if I am honest and the resulting
photograph was a little bit soft. I did sharpen the image a
little and play with the curves to produce the black
background and finally applied a couple of filters to produce
the contemporary look that I think shows the beauty of this
flower to best effect. |
