Rhodies Are Red, Poppies Are Blue...

Today, in honor of the weather being suspiciously springlike, the family made a trek to the nearby Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden.  Aside from the rhodies and a bonsai collection, it apparently also featured the rare Blue Poppy from the Himalayas, a notoriously difficult species to successfully cultivate. Given the usual family luck, I was skeptical that we'd actually see them in bloom.

The above photo cuts a long and winding story mercifully short.

Not only were there blue poppies, but they were in bloom.  Several of them.  Enough that one could see how they actually emerge from the pods purple, then turn a bright sky-blue as they age.

Aside from Grandpa being less than alert (even for him), it was a fairly pleasant day. I could've spent longer just wandering around, pretending I knew what I was doing with my cameras... though by the time we left the crowds were getting thicker.  It seems we weren't the only ones searching for the legendary blue poppies.

It was a nice little break from the other projects I've been running in circles trying to finish (my latest written monstrosity, the annual run at Copyright Infringement Hell, online work training, etc.)

(As a PS, I offer two pictures:

How is this possible?

Further proof of Wizard's First Rule...)