Pest battle with California Poppy — and how I won

I had a serious problem with poor germination in compacted or clay soils on my California Poppy earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational.

Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate naturalistic aesthetic that suits modern ecological gardens, which is remarkable. I've repositioned it in a container with a meadow mix for a balcony and improved my attention to allowing plants to set seed before cutting at the end of season. cutting back meadow areas in autumn to remove thatch was the proof that the plant had fully recovered — genuinely beautiful. Moral of the story: inspect regularly and catch problems early.