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Poppies from the famous Flanders Fields are in bloom on the University of Saskatchewan’s Saskatoon campus.
Corporal Fikret Ükis, a horticulture student at the University of Saskatchewan who has served in the Canadian Armed Forces since 2018, said he found the poppy seeds from Flanders online, and quickly decided to order them.
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“I really wanted to connect my research in horticultural science with my military service,” he said. “The one way I figured out I could do that is by growing poppies for Remembrance Day.”
The poppies of Flanders were immortalized in Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields.”
The famous war poem describes the red flowers blowing over the graves of soldiers from the First World War, and calls on the current generation to remember their sacrifices. The term “Flanders Fields” is commonly used to refer to First World War battlefields in the Flanders region, which straddles France and Belgium.
Ükis said it was wonderful to see real poppies in bloom for the first time in the atrium of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
“I have never really seen real poppies until I started doing my studies at USask,” he said. “I’ve been overhearing some students just talking about the display, and they also have never seen actual real-life poppies in their lives before.”
Ükis said when he saw the seeds online, he knew he had to order them immediately.
“I found a seed pack that said ‘from Flanders Fields poppy seeds,’” he said. “I just ordered them and they came in the mail, and I tried growing them and they all germinated fine.”
Growing the poppies did come with a few challenges for Ükis.
“Some of the flowers are blooming a bit too early,” Ükis said.
“I didn’t realize how tall they would have been. I thought it’d be more compact and short, but in the end just seeing every single flower open and bloom made every moment worth it.”
Ükis said it took a few attempts before his poppies were perfected for the public.
“I had three different trials for planting seeds,” he said. “The first time I did it was last year in my bedroom, but it was not an ideal condition… the second time I tried it out was in the beginning of the summer… then I decided to do it more by hand-watering everything, which worked out very nicely.”
Ükis said he’s glad he gets to share the experience with his fellow students.
“I was not expecting to get this much attention for it,” he said.
“I’m very happy to bring some new experience to the students to see those poppies. I really hope they do continue this tradition next year and years after this.”
Ükis said he doesn’t interrupt people who are looking at the poppies, but he enjoys hearing the happy comments from those who stop to admire the flowers while they remember those who have served.
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