To Stake or Not to Stake

I'm sooo pleased with our large stand of oriental poppies this year and the reason is...I've been a good girl and properly supported them with a combination of twist easy and arc shaped metal supports.

Last year the poppies were looking really beautiful and then the winds came!  We're pretty exposed to wind here sweeping down off the north Shropshire plain and, as the garden is still in its infancy, the shrubs and trees we have planted are just beginning to provide some shelter.  So our lovely poppies were swept over.  They still managed to bloom but had to be cut back before they finished flowering as they fell over on to the grass paths.

June 2010 - damaged by the winds

This year is a different story...still blooming beautifully but standing up straight and proud.  I've put three twist easy supports in the centre of the poppies and the arc supports around the edges.  I did this at the beginning of the season as the poppy foliage was starting to appear and now, just a few weeks on, there are no signs of the metal supports just lots of lovely straight poppies.

May 2011 - well supported

So a successful lesson learned and now I'll be investing in more plant supports for other vulnerable plants in the garden and taking the time in early spring to put them in place.