Dazzling orange and gold poppies suspended like balloons on slender stalks set the sky ablaze in “Poppy II.” The star of this show is the Golden Poppy, California’s state flower, which reflects the richness of the Golden State. According to Native American history, it was called the Fire Flower, sent by the Great Spirit to ward off frost and famine. The Spanish called it the Cup of Gold, and considered it a symbol of California’s richness and fertility. To the ’49ers, it symbolized gold, and many miners believed that gold formed wherever poppy petals fell to the ground.

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