June: Poppies

Some annual poppies can introduce a flamboyant touch to the garden, particularly the double versions of the ‘opium’ poppies, Papaver somniferum. Cultivars available from seed include P. ‘Black Beauty’ with very deep red double flowers, P. ‘Venus’ with frilly double red flowers or P. ‘Orange Chiffon’ which is tall with single orange flowers. The dried seed heads of these look good in the garden or can be cut for dried arrangements.

The quintessential annual red field or corn poppies, P. rhoeas, are also available in cultivated forms with a more delicate range of colours as found in seed mixtures ‘Shirley Series’ or ‘Mother of Pearl’. A more garden worthy red poppy is the ‘Ladybird’ poppy, P. commutatum, with rich, crimson red flowers with a large black blotch at the base of each of the four petals. Annual poppies dislike root disturbance and are best sown direct in the border, although they can be sown in modules, thinned to one plant per module, so that the plugs can be planted out easily.

The Iceland poppy, P.nudicaule, is a biennial best sown in the late summer or early autumn to flower the following summer. A wide range of both bright and subtle colour mixtures are available. This is a good poppy to use for cut flowers.

Oriental poppies flower in late May and June, after flowering cut back the flower heads and the foliage will disappear fairly soon so they are best planted where later growing plants will take over. Some old favourites include P. ‘Cedric Morris’ which has soft pink, frilled petals with black blotches at the base of the petals, P. ‘Black and White’ as per the name. For a large traditional red try P. ‘Beauty of Livermore’ or P. ‘Goliath’. A newer variety is P. ‘Karine’, which has lots of small soft pink flowers and is quite upright in habit. P. Patty’s Plum is an interesting purplish-plum colour but can be hard to place in the garden and unusually prefers a little shade. The bold red ones can look really good in a border which is predominately green in June. Try the pink colours with Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ and Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ for a softer look.

Nearly all poppies like an open sunny position with fertile, well drained soil, although some can self-seed themselves into quite shady positions and seem to flower well enough.

CAF