Plant Overview
Large, pillar-box red flowers splashed with black. Large leafy green foliage.
Flowers in early summer. Cut back after flowering. May produce a second flush of flowers in late summer.
For best results, grow in well-drained soil in full sun.
Papaver orientale was brought from Armenia in 1714. The broad, slightly hoary, deeply cut leaves form luxuriant clumps of foliage and, in May and June, they produce huge flowers with petals like tissue paper. Magnificent and show plants, they are best cut back after flowering to keep them tidy. They prefer sun and a rich soil.
Poppies often die back to ground level after flowering and start to shoot again in late summer/autumn. Feeding them after flowering can hasten the re-growth and sometimes results in a second flush of flowers in early autumn. If you buy them in pots in summer, they may be in their dormant phase.
Height and Spread: 90cm x 60cm
Photo courtesy of The Hardy Plant Society.