Sally told me that if you like cut flowers in the house, that you can cut poppies and singe the very end. She said they last for a few days.
So when Deb and Eric were visiting, I decided to impress them. I wanted them to think that gardening was second nature to me. I was sure the plants out front looked like they had been there forever, when in reality I had planted them in a panic 2 weeks before.
I cut a poppy and singed the end. "What are you doing?" they cried, as I held the stem over a gas burner on the stove.
Alas. When we got back from Pt. Reyes that afternoon, the poppy had pooped out (exhibit 1). Everyone laughed at me and I was more than a little peeved at Sally. Soon as Deb and Eric and Tom were behind the door, I e-mailed Sally and demanded: When you singe a poppy to bring it inside, are you supposed to put it in water?
Within seconds I received a reply: yes, you cut it, singe the cut end, put in water. If you don't it doesn't last at all.
Ok, everyone. Have a laugh at my expense. But I want you to know what happened next. I added water to the vase with the dead poppy. Then I went to lie down on the couch while the others drank champagne and had fun. In ten or fifteen minutes I heard gasps and cries from the kitchen. I jumped up and ran in. They were staring dumbstruck at the poppy which over the course of a glass of champagne had resurrected itself (exhibit 2.)
I know you won't believe me, even though I documented it below. You'll think the poppy was switched out. But this really happened and it's something you can try in your own home.
p.s. Since this incident I've learned that if you cut a poppy, singe the end, and put it in water immediately rather than waiting 8 hours, that it will last much longer inside than it would have outside.
