David Mathre’s Poppies
David Mathre built a wildflower garden with a pond and a huge poppy field on his Skillman property.
avid Mathre’s place in the Grandview section of Skillman doesn’t look like much from the road. Then you get to the backyard.
Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026FujiFilm X-T5 · ISO 400 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 150 mm · f/5.6
Years ago he converted the house to solar and swapped in ground-source heating and cooling. Then he bought the land next door, fenced eight feet high to keep out deer and bear, and turned it into a wildflower meadow. There’s a pond now, fed entirely by runoff, stocked with waterlilies. Frogs found it on their own. So did dragonflies. American goldfinches work the flowers along with more Eastern Carpenter bees than I can count, and David still grows his own fruit and vegetables on the side.
Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 10000 · 1/125 sec
XF27mmF2.8 R WR · 27 mm · f/16
This was my second visit, and my second time trying to photograph a dragonfly there. I came away with exactly one, a Common Whitetail, resting still enough for a proper shot. Every other visit they’ve been too quick for me.
Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026FujiFilm X-T5 · ISO 1000 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 377.7 mm · f/8.0
What I have enjoyed on each visit is a morning of David walking me through what he’s built and why, imprecise, half-remembered explanations that somehow make more sense than a tidy plan would.
The poppy field had grown since last time, nearly a quarter of the property now, in pink, red, white, orange and thick with bees. We walked through it talking while we both took photos.
More on David and his work: his website.
Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026FujiFilm X-T5 · ISO 1000 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 364.5 mm · f/7.1 Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026
FujiFilm X-T5 · ISO 800 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 246.6 mm · f/8.0 Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale) · Friday 19 June 2026
FujiFilm X-T5 · ISO 1250 · 1/1000 sec
XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 435.5 mm · f/11
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