Today is California Poppy Day, an April 6 holiday. Fields of California poppies are known in California and elsewhere as “fields of gold. Today is a day set aside to honor these beautiful flowers and wildflowers. 

Cheerful and bright orange poppies are native to the western coast of North America, from southern Canada, and southward into Mexico. They grow wild, sometimes covering huge fields in a sea of gold, when in bloom. Gardeners love to grow them in their flower gardens, in flowerpots on their patio or deck, as well as using them as ground cover. 

In the late 1800s, Californians were working toward making the California Poppy their state flower. It did not happen until March 2, 1903. And, it wasn’t until more than a century later, that California Poppy Day was created. 

Celebrate California Poppy Day by planting some of these poppies in your flower garden, enjoying pictures and information about them, or holding teaching sessions and talks to children or groups.