Castroville – Springtime in the Lone Star State is synonymous with bluebonnets, as it should be. These bountiful blooms are the first sign of spring’s arrival, and from Brenham to Fredericksburg you can find fields full of our state’s flower. That is unless you head to Castroville, where the poppy seems to reign supreme. “It’s a good time of year for us, this time when we have the poppies blooming like this, in this full,” said Lloyd Ross.
Lloyd is by no means a horticulturist, but he sure seems to be good at gardening. “Just seeing them like this, it’s something I never imagined I’d be doing,” said Llloyd. “I mean, I don’t have a green thumb, per se, but they grow very well in this yard here. And the thing I like when it’s this time of year is visiting with the people that come.”
Lloyd is the proprietor of the poppy house. The two things he hears the most, “man, you have a beautiful garden,” and “Everybody says I looked like Willie Nelson,” said Llloyd. “I don’t think so, but who knows.”
While Willie likes a different kind of flower, Lloyd loves his poppies and despite the fact he’s been maintaining this field full of them for over 15 years, he still doesn’t understand them. “They’re very particular to the ground, the soil that they are planted in, and grow in,” said Llloyd. “But I can’t tell you any rhyme or reason why they grow in a certain area and why they do not. I am totally confused on them.”
In fact, it almost seems as if these flowers have a mind of their own, growing wherever they see fit. “They can grow in rocky areas, and they can grow in especially well-drained areas. That’s what they like,” said Lloyd. “But I’ve seen them in other areas too, that they’ve grown where they shouldn’t be growing. Of course, they grow in between sidewalks, cracks. You’ll see them on the highway, one or two sitting there just by their lonesome. They can grow just about anywhere. But as far as what they like, I’m really dumbfounded on that. I really don’t know anymore. I thought I did.”
It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention and for Lloyd it was a drought that made him give up on maintaining a yard full of grass. Or in his case, dirt. “The reason I did it was, obviously, to cut down on maintenance, because all I was doing is just creating dust when I mowed the weeds,” said Lloyd. “And this was a sure-fire way to cut back on the work. I’d have these weeds growing up that looked very nice, very colorful, and I wouldn’t have to do anything for two or three months. Unfortunately, that backfired on me, because people started taking pictures, putting them on Facebook. It just, pardon the pun, but blossomed from that point on.”
After serving in the Air Force for 18 years and living a quiet life, Lloyd, his fiancé Sally, and his dog Jack started to become the talk of the town. “Sally and I were sitting out here relaxing on a Saturday morning one time, years ago, and we see this procession of cars coming up past the funeral parlor,” said Lloyd. “We’re thinking, okay, there was a funeral early in the morning. And they all started pulling in here.”
Folks from across the state would come to Castroville to take pictures of the poppies, and who wouldn’t want to include a pup in that pic. “He was the main attraction out here,” said Lloyd.
With the Poppy House becoming such a popular place, Lloyd eventually started charging a small fee for folks to come and take professional pictures. While some of those funds do help maintain the property, the majority of them are donated to the American Legion and the local VFW post. “Well, I’m a veteran myself,” said Lloyd. “And of course, I support our military a hundred percent. Always have, always will, even if I wasn’t in the military. They’re a big important part of our history, and also our community, and our nation itself. So they sacrifice quite a bit through the number of years that they’ve served, and this is a good way for us to go ahead and help those people out.”
While Lloyd’s garden continues to blossom, Lloyd himself hit a rough patch over the past few years with the loss of his fiancé and his best friend. “It’s rough. It’s rough. It’s… Sorry,” said Lloyd. “It’s hard doing it without both Sally and Jack, because Jack was a big part of it too. And we enjoyed being with Jack out here and watching him enjoy himself, which is our big king poodle. But being without Sally, it’s different. It’s a little tough. And I just wish she was out here, because she would really, really enjoy being out here. She always did. And the people enjoyed coming here, seeing her.”
Lloyd’s passion for this place burns as bright red as these poppies, fueled by memories of the ones he loves and by the joy he brings to others. “So I’m going to be officially old next month. Medicare, so 65. So hopefully I’ll have another good 10 years under my belt to go ahead and continue on this tradition. May need some help later on in the upcoming years, but I do plan on carrying this on. Not just for the people, but in memory of Sally and Jack also.”