blooming in the rain

During a break between heavy rains, I checked the patio this afternoon.

A lavender Turkish poppy plant is growing in a container where I originally planted a milkweed plant last summer. The milkweed plant fed the two monarch caterpillars that we observed and nurtured until they eclosed and then flew away.

The seeds of the poppy plant must have been strewn by the wind, landing in the soil of this container. The plant looks so lush, thriving in this cold and rainy weather.

In the photo above you see a tender young poppy bud with its stalk curled over another stem.