Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CLVI · Topic 24: Summer and fall garden flowers

156. The California poppy

Goal: Your child watches a California poppy throw off its little cap and open, and explains how the plant suits a dry climate.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 7 steps

You'll need

A Teacher's Story about the California poppy and the lesson: Leading thought, Method and ten questions, followed by a poem.

When and where
Comstock says in California it blooms in greatest abundance in February, March and April, and in the East it flowers in gardens until frost, making a good September lesson. It grows easily from seed. Pick only from your own garden.
The leading thought
The California poppy is a native of California. It blossoms during the months of February, March and April in greatest abundance. It is found in the desert as well as among the foothills.
Why so beautiful?
Look at the California poppy as a whole and tell, if you can, why it is so beautiful when in blossom.
The toboggan cap
Look at the flower bud. What sort of a stem has it?
What peculiarity has this bud? Describe the little cap.
Watch a flower unfold. What happens to the “toboggan cap?”
The cap is made of the sepals joined together; the opening flower pushes it off.
Open and shut
Does the poppy remain open at night? Does it remain open during cloudy or rainy weather? Why?
How does the pod open and scatter its seeds?
A dry country
Look at the root. Do you think it is fitted to sustain the plant through a long, dry summer?
Find California on a map. Its summers are long and dry.
Nature notebook
Draw a bud wearing its cap, the cap falling off, and the open flower. For a writing day:
Read all the accounts you can find of the California poppy, and write a little theme describing why it was chosen as the flower of that great State, and how it came by its name.

Sow California poppy seeds where they'll get full sun. They often reseed themselves.

Mark this lesson done