Sometimes, in the middle of Manhattan, one can lose all sense of the seasons at the flower shops. It was on a recent walk at the New York Botanical Garden that the purple poppy, above, caught my eye and reminded me that this is the time for the poppies to bask in the sun. And although I love these flowers, their pods also make for an impacting (and easy) cut flower.

Beautiful Flickr shots after the jump...

These photos above of the Lauren's Grape variety are mine, but all you have to do is take a quick look over at Flickr for the most inspiring shots of these incredible forms. Nature has created in these pods the most beautiful curves and symmetry, almost like delicate blown glass vessels. Be on the lookout for them at the florist.

Sure enough I found them being sold in bundles at Dean & Deluca this past week, and not so expensive. They look great in a vase by themselves, or they easily mingle with other flowers.

These gorgeous shots are from Flickr:

Take a browse at even more inspiring Flickr poppy pod photos here.

matt at apartment therapy dot com