The Oriental Poppy is one of the most important perennial that can't be missed in a flower bed. Its magnificent, bright red blossoms with a nearly black centre are open from May to June. They shine so strong that you can already see them from afar. The closer you get, the more fascinated you get with the tenderness of the single petals that appear like a whiff of silk.
After heyday, the beautiful seed capsules, which you can leave as decoration in the garden, for the time being, remain. As soon as it rattles silently in the capsule when shaking, the seeds on the inside are ripe and can be easily beaten for the next sowing in the next year. Dried, the seed capsules are very beautiful in flower arrangements and as a decoration in natural-seeming flower bouquets.
Also, the blossoms are well suitable as a cut flower but they only last for a very short time in the vase. Therefore, you have to cut the buds as soon as they are about to burst.
Relatively shortly after heyday, poppy moves in. That means that the leaves wither and that you can't see any aerial plant parts anymore. Only in autumn, a new leaf rosette is formed from the tap root, which then remains over winter. Therefore, in the bed, the oriental poppy should always be planted slightly in the back and surrounded by lush, other shrubs, which then hide the gap that the poppy leaves in summer. Herefore, catnip, baby's breath, lavender, or larkspur are very well suitable.
The oriental poppy is a good plant for bees and other useful insects.
Papaver orientale seeds, content: Approx. 200 Oriental Poppy seeds.
