I hadn't realised I grow so many different poppies until I began to list them here.
Welsh, oriental, Shirley and Cedric Morris, somniferum, rupifragum and sometimes the common red poppy all make their appearances here.
So why do I love them? Well they're easy and look after themselves, they seed around generously but not so much as to be a problem (here in my garden anyway), the colours are wonderful, and I love the way they move in the slightest breeze. Also they are so ephemeral - the individual flowers don't last long, so you have to go out and see them every day, which is fun.
The oriental poppies, papaver orientale, flower in early summer and their sumptous colours are a joy.
I especially love Coral Reef which looks so good beside these lupins, and raspberry pink Brooklyn, palest pink Katrine, the delectable Patty's Plum (I have not got these last two - yet!) and some unamed ones which I grew from a packet of mixed seed called Pizzicato (see 19 May 2010) - this was very easy and inexpensive and gave me lots of interesting colours.
You can cut back the messy foliage of the orientals down to the ground after they have flowered, and either have spreading plants growing next to them, or sow a few annuals (poppies?) in the space to fill the gap they leave behind.
(The photo on 19 May 2011 contains a warning about staking! But I rarely heed my own warnings - they take their chance....)
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