FIVE POPPIES
There are several different varieties of poppies from the Northern Hemisphere growing in our garden at Das Helwig Haus B&. This morning after a shower of rain last night I found I had five varieties in bloom. I have photographed all five types of poppies for inclusion in this post today.
I’ll begin with the Flanders Poppy, commonly called the Field Poppy in Europe until it became associated with the battles in Flanders during World War One.
Flander Poppy
Flanders Poppy and honey bee.
Often there is considerable difference between individual Flanders poppies – Papaver rhoeas in both flower and leaf structure. The Reverend Shirley, an English cleric, noticed several different colours amongst a clump of wild poppies in his garden and with selective breeding produced the Shirley poppy which now bears his name. These poppies have the texture of crepe paper ranging through colours from rose pink to mauve and purple. In our Remembrance Field at Glen Aplin I often notice poppies with unusual colouring. Sometimes I will receive an telephone call from a excited gardener who obtained seed from me the previous year to say his seed has produced a new colour.
Papaver rhoeas with white centre and petal edging
First Oriental poppy of 2008
The poppies bred from the Papaver rhoeas stock have similar leaves and will last no more than one day as a cut flower. They are annuals and must be planted from seed each year. The Oriental poppies I grow are Papaver atlanticum, a hairy perennial with orange flowers. The first flowers appear deep within the foliage but later blooms may grow as tall as 60cm. As they are perennials they will carry over from one year to another.
Oriental poppies in 2007
Iceland poppies
One of the most beautiful poppies is the Papaver nudicaule commonly known as the Iceland Poppy. It is actually a perennial grown as a winter/spring flowering annual. This is an excellent cut flower, requiring no water if the stems are firstly seared with heat. I use a candle flame to scorch the stems.
Honey bees love these poppies
Like the Flanders poppies the Californian poppies – Eschscholsia Californica seed prolifically and have become one of the weeds of my garden. I have one garden bed where I allow them to grow each year as a ground cover under shrubs, but I have to thin them severely. I have also found that seed spread from my rubbish heaps to surrounding grassy areas where these colourful flowers have created perennial clumps. They don’t transplant easily as they have a single tap root, so should be sown from seed. However it is that strong tap root that allows them to survive as a perennial. They grow wild across the hills of southern California.
When bought in a seed packet there are a variety of colours including shades of cream, lemon, yellow, orange, red and mauve.
After a few years of self-seeding most of my poppies are the traditional yellow colour associated with the wild poppies of California.
Californian Poppy
