Annuals & Biennials

Papaver
Papaver
poppy

- Height 9-48 in (23-120 cm)
- Planting distance 1-11/2 ft (30-45 cm)
- Flowers early to late summer
- Ordinary well-drained soil
- Sunny site
- Hardy annual or biennial

Poppies' delicate, brightly colored petals are irresistible. Some poppies have single flowers with four broad overlapping petals arranged in a bowl shape, while others have double flowers - balllike blooms with many petals. Poppies are suited to a variety of exposures and situations in the garden - though sun is essential.

Popular species and cultivars
Papaver commutatum (formerly a subspecies of P. rhoeas) bears single flowers of crimson with large black blotches. Papaver nudicaule (Iceland poppy) is an elegant poppy that comes from the sub-Artic. The slender leafless stems carry white or yellow fragrant flowers in early summer. Only at the base of the 11/2-21/2 ft (45-75 cm) high stems is there a rosette of smooth, soft green leaves. This is one of the few poppies suitable for cutting for bouquets. When you cut it, select buds just starting to show color. Scald the stems in hot water after cutting to seal the ends. Many garden cultivars have been developed from the species, offering a wide range of flower colors. 'Champagne Bubbles' has large pink, salmon, apricot, orange, golden yellow, or scarlet flowers, single or bicolored, and reaches 2 ft (60 cm) high. 'Garden Gnome Hybrids' are compact strain, growing only 1 ft (30 cm) high, with flowers in scarlet, salmon, orange, yellow, or white. Papaver rhoeas (field poppy) has scarlet flowers with black centers from early to late summer on erect 2 ft (60 cm) high stems. The blooms are accompanied by pale green deeply lobed leaves. Field poppies look best grown in large clusters on grassy banks or in a semiwild meadow area. Several garden cultivars have been developed. The most popular are the 'Shirley' strains: 'Shirley Single Hybrids' have similar but double flowers. Both types will grow to 2 ft (60 cm) tall. Papver somniferum (opium poppy) has large white, red, pink, or purple flowers from early to late summer, followed by bulbous, flat-capped poisonous seedpods in fall. The plants reach up to 4 ft (120 cm) high and carry smooth, pale green deeply lobed leaves. Cultivars include: 'Danebrog,' with single blood-red flowers, fringed petals, and prominent white center;' Paeonia Flowered Hybrids,' with a mixture of white, pink, or purple flowers resembling peonies; and 'White Cloud,' with extra-large white flowers on 3 ft (90 cm) tall stems.

Annuals
and
Biennials