North American Veterans Day Remembrance Gardens: Grasses, Larks, Poppies

Summary: In Flanders Fields and the poem's northwest Belgium context inspires grasses, larks and poppies in North American Veterans Day remembrance gardens.

Poppies for remembrance: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row": Ypres, West Flanders, northern Belgium; June 29, 2014: Thomas Quine (quinet), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

North American Veterans Day remembrance gardens abound in larks and poppies from mention in the poem In Flanders Fields and in grasses from the poem's geographical and historical contexts in northwest Belgium.

The poem by John Alexander McCrae (Nov. 30, 1872-Jan. 28, 1918) of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, brings Flanders poppies (Papaver rhoeas) iconic status in memorial floral arrangements. Lieutenant Colonel McCrae's poppies commemorate the specific casualty of Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer (June 29, 1892-May 2, 1915) of Hull, Quebec, Canada, amid service-related, war-time deaths. Their companion grasses defer to lark-friendly croplands and grasslands near the six engagements within the Second Battle of Ypres (April 22-May 25, 1915), West Flanders, Belgium.

The same open ground-loving lark species, Eremophila alpestris, enjoys Belgium and France as shore larks and experiences Canada, Mexico and the United States as horned larks.

Flanders poppies, named common poppies, corn poppies, corn roses, field poppies and red poppies commonly and Papaver rhoeas (red poppy) scientifically, furnish the nickname Poppy Day.

Flanders field poppies, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), grow natively in Eurasia and North Africa as single- or double-flowering annuals. They have blue, gray, lavender, lilac, orange, peach, pink, purple, red, salmon, scarlet or white flowers, 2 inches (5.08 centimeters) across, and deep-lobed, pale green leaves. The American Legion only includes black-based, scarlet-colored, single-flowering blooms from the Flanders field poppies atop branching, hairy, 2- to 5-foot- (0.61- to 1.52-meter-) high, wiry stems.

North American Veterans Day remembrance gardens also jumble alpine, California, California tree, Iceland, ladybird, Moroccan, Oriental, plume, prickly, sea and yellow-horned poppies along with poppy anemones.

Grasses know bloom seasons before, during and after the combined February to October or even very early November bloom times of successively spring-, summer-, fall-blooming poppies.

Meadow, prairie, rock and woodland gardens link summer-blooming grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) and summer- and fall-blooming panic (Panicum virgatum) grasses, both under 3 feet (0.91 meter) high. The closely related, native North American, 3- to 6-foot- (0.91- to 1.83-meter-) high hair grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and Lindheimer's muhly (M. lindheimeri) manage fall bloom seasons. Same-sized North American native grasses, bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus) and little bluestem (Schizchyrium scoparium) respectively nurture fall and winter bloom seasons and summer and fall seasonal blooms.

Buff panic, green, grama, pink hair, purple bluestem and muhly and silvery little bluestem grass flowers offer lark-friendly colors in North American Veterans Day remembrance gardens.

Horned and shore larks, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus and scientifically named Eremophila alpestris (desert-lover of high mountains), provoke one reference from Lieutenant Colonel McCrae.

The poem questions whether Canadians and Germans in the engagement at St. Julien village (April 24-May 5, 1915) qualify as an audience "amid the guns below." It reveals that "in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard" since horned and shore larks regale bird-listeners with delicate, high-pitched musical songs. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology situates the fast "sequence of sharp, tinkling notes often rising in pitch" as high as 800 feet (243.84 meters) above ground.

The natural beauty of Lieutenant Colonel McCrae's larks and poppies, teamed with spring- through winter-blooming grasses, turns North American Veterans Day remembrance gardens into year-round tributes.

The American Legion distributes Flanders poppies (Papaver rhoeas), which open as black-centered, single-flowered, scarlet blooms; Ypres, West Flanders, northern Belgium; June 29, 2014: Thomas Quine (quinet), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Poppies for remembrance: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row": Ypres, West Flanders, northern Belgium; June 29, 2014: Thomas Quine (quinet), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/16041129730/

Flanders poppies (Papaver rhoeas); Ypres, West Flanders, northern Belgium; June 29, 2014: Thomas Quine (quinet), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/16033040040/

For further information:

"Horned Lark." The Cornell Lab of Ornithology > Bird Guide.
Available @ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Horned_Lark/sounds

"Lieutenant Alexis Hannum Helmer." FindAGrave.com.
Available @ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12051999

Linneas, Carl von. 1753. "5. Papaver rhoeas." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 507. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358526

"LTC John Alexander McCrae." FindAGrave.com.
Available @ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5758

"Papaver rhoeas L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available via Tropicos @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/24000139