RHS examines poppy history as Britain remembers fallen heroes

14:23 11th November 2009

Britain will today (November 11th) remember its fallen soldiers by wearing poppies and holding a minute's silence at 11:00 GMT.

The annual ritual is held to pay respects to those who have died while serving their country.

To mark the occasion, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been examining the iconic flower's history.

It was first mentioned in texts more than 2,300 years ago, when Theophrastus' Historia Planataru referred to the Mecon rhoeas - a variation of the Papaver rhoeas cultivar used on Remembrance Day.

Later, the Celts named the plants thunder flowers as they believed them capable of predicting when a storm was coming by bursting into bloom before it broke.

Drivers will often notice large blooms of poppies by the side of new roads as seeds - which can lie dormant for years - are germinated by the soil being disturbed.

Meanwhile, those hoping to keep the flowers in a vase should first sear the stems with a naked flame - according to the RHS, this makes them last longer.

The gardening body recently revealed that it is to give three copies of Bulb - the new book by The Tulip author Anna Pavord.