Oriental poppies are some of the most magnificent flowers you can grow in your garden. They are available in a variety of colors, sizes, and shapes, making them a perfect addition to any landscape.
In this article, we will explore the beauty of Oriental poppies and provide some tips on how to grow and care for them.
The Beauty of Oriental Poppies
One of the most amazing things about Oriental poppies is their wide range of colors. From sparkling white and delicate pink to lavender pastels and deep reds, these flowers can provide almost every imaginable color but blue.
Moreover, they come in single and double-flower forms, with petals that are wide, flat, slightly curved, cup-shaped, or deeply ruffled, making each flower unique and charming.
Oriental poppies are known for their enormous size, with some varieties boasting flowers that can be up to 12 inches across. Their distinctive markings and contrasting center spots are also something to behold.
They have textures that can be lustrous as satin, fragile and translucent as China silk, or lightly creped or fluted in blossoms with plain or ruffled edges.
Tips for Growing and Caring for Oriental Poppies
If you are thinking about growing Oriental poppies, here are some tips to help you get started:
- Choose a spot with full sun or partial shade and well-drained soil.
- Plant Oriental poppies during their dormancy in August, September, or early October when the new foliage begins to show.
- Dig a hole several inches deeper than the tap root of the plant, and add a little sand to the bottom of the hole for drainage.
- Hold the plant upright in the hole with the crown about three inches below the surface, and press in pulverized compost or loam firmly around it.
- Water the plant well, and add a light mulch around it to prevent heaving during the first winter.
- Refrain from hoeing around the plants too often to avoid cutting the roots.
Using Oriental Poppies in Your Landscape
Oriental poppies are perfect for creating a dramatic effect in your garden. They can be used as a focal point or mixed with other flowers to create a stunning display.
Proper placement and combination with other flowers enhance poppies’ effectiveness. Some are so spectacular that a plain evergreen background looks best with them, or perhaps a backdrop of white-flowered shrubs like spiraea.
Here are some examples of how you can use Oriental poppies in your landscape:
- The enormous Curtis Giant Flame,’ orange-yellow Harvest Moon,’ unspotted orange Valencia,’ brassy yellow-red ‘Sungod,’ or the white-centered orange China Boy’ are all excellent choices for a plain evergreen background.
- In front of these exotics, try deep blue anchusa Loddon Royalist,’ the airy mass of gypsophila and the silver foliage of artemisia Silver King.’
- Most pink poppies harmonize pleasingly with other garden flowers, notably delphiniums, larkspur, aquilegias, and others.
- Deeper pink varieties include Pandora,’ lustrous salmon-pink; Master Richard,’ a geranium-pink huge flower on four-foot stems; ‘Curtis Giant Salmon Pink,’ a favorite for its luminous shade and prolific bloom; ‘Show Girl,’ bright pink with white center, large and ruffled; and ‘Gondolier,’ a new deep coral-pink color with red center spots.
- Unique in color combinations are the new bicolor poppies. Unlike older varieties such as ‘Snow-flame,’ these hold their colors and do not revert to solid tones. Noteworthy bicolor poppies are such varieties as ‘Carousel,’ snowy petals bordered with vivid red; ‘Darling,’ well named for its lightly ruffled white blooms with inch-wide pink edges; ‘Maiden’s Blush,’ exquisite ruffled white with shell-pink edges; ‘Lucky,’ cup-shaped white petals bordered clear orange; ‘Pinnacle,’ white with a band of watermelon-pink; and ‘Springtime,’ a dainty white trimmed with fresh pink.