I was today years old when I learned about the essence and story behind my favorite flower in Eu since the day I saw Claude Monet's The Poppy Field near Argenteuil (1873) when I visited Musée d’Orsay last year.
By the end of WW1, bombardments resulting in soil disturbance created ideal conditions for poppies to flourish in Flanders – enriched by nitrogen from explosives, lime from building debris, and the blood & bones of countless casualties. These resilient flowers became symbols of hope and remembrance, representing the souls of the war dead transformed into blood-red blooms.
Guess I'll never look at poppies the same way evr again.
