Poppy

Poppy
Poppies are a native wildflower in England, living on roadside verges, waste ground and farmland. They particularly thrive in areas of upturned soil as their seeds can grow even after 50 years of being in the ground. 
Poppies grow up to 80cm tall and flower from June to August. The flowers are big and delicate and can be many different colours, but the most common one is red-orange.
Poppies are classed as common but are in decline in the wild due to the increase in herbicides on arable fields where they used to grow between the crops. To reverse this, we could use less chemicals on farmland and leave more areas wild for wildflowers to grow. At Memorial Park some of the grass is being left long so that wildflowers like poppies can grow. This will also help the insects that feed from the wildflower’s nectar, and the birds that eat the insects.
After the First World War poppies grew in the upturned ground of the battlefields. Since then, they have ben used as a symbol of remembrance. The oldest part of the park is the War Memorial, which was erected in 1926 to commemorate the local men who were lost in the First World War. The rest of the park was built around this from 1928 onwards. Wreaths of poppies are laid each year at the War Memorial in the park. In 2024 the memorial underwent a complete restoration, and 19 missing names were added.

Did you know? 
Even before the First World War poppies were associated with blood and new life. The Egyptians and Romans made garlands out of poppies to celebrate the gods and ask for a good crop yield. 

Connect to nature: 
Wildflowers are hugely important in supporting pollinators like butterflies and bees. In summer, look out for butterflies and try to identify a few of them, in the winter read up on butterflies.  The most common butterfly recorded in Lancashire in 2024 was the large white so this may be a good one to start with! 
After recording low numbers of butterflies in 2024, the charity Butterfly Conservation declared a butterfly emergency. Take part in their 15-minute Big Butterfly Count in July each year to support conservation efforts. 

Kids activity:
Poppies grow in almost any conditions. In a pot, plant some poppy seeds (or any other flower or vegetable seeds), look after them and watch them grow!