Poppy

PAPAVER

MY FATHER GREW POPPIES IN HIS GARDEN IN NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY. I LOVED THEM AND I WAITED WHILE THE OVOID FUZZY GREEN BUDS SEGMENTED IN PIECES AND UNFURLED INTO PAPERY, BRILLIANT ORANGE AND RED AND APRICOT FLOWERS EACH YEAR. I KNEW I WOULD ALWAYS HAVE POPPIES IN MY GARDEN, AND I PLANTED LOTS IN MY FIRST BIG GARDEN AT TURKEY HILL.

I was particularly fond of one type of unnamed poppy, a pale orange double poppy with petals thinner than the sturdy large Oriental poppies we all know and love, but graceful and nodding on wavy stems, self-sowing, and spreadable. My neighbor Fred Specht gave me a few plants, and I encouraged and nurtured them for years. When I left Westport, and that garden with all its treasure, I vowed to come back to get some of those poppies. Yet in fifteen years, I still have not yet managed to grow any of that type at the farm in Katonah, and I need them and want them desperately.

There are many kinds and colors of poppies, and somewhere between fifty and one hundred species, but only four of those species actually make it into most perennial gardens: Papaver somniferum, or opium poppy; Papaver rhoeas or Flanders, Shirley, or corn poppy; Papaver nudicaule, or Icelandic poppy; and most important, Papaver orientale or Oriental poppy. True perennials, Oriental poppies are valued for color and shape in most home gardens, ranging from white to many shades of orange, to pink, rose, lavender, crimson, raspberry, and even dark red.

Annie’s Annuals & Perennials catalog, from the company based in Richmond, California, offers some exotic poppies, including annuals such as P. rhoeas ‘Falling in Love’, hybrid poppy ‘Orange Chiffon’, and a perennial Moroccan poppy called ‘Flore Pleno’, an always blooming, hardy pale-orange flower. Many poppies have extraordinary embellishments, such as fringed petals, feathered petals, splotched petals, and shaded petals, and all have abundant, pollen-bearing anthers and somewhat bristly stems and leaves. The bread poppy, grown for its seeds used in baking, and the opium poppy have smoother, more succulent foliage.

Most poppies are not considered a fine or long-lasting cut flower, but I still incorporate them into arrangements because of their colors and gracefulness. To prolong their life once cut, it’s essential to first sear the stem’s end immediately in a hot flame to seal the latex sap that exudes from the wounded stem. Depending on where you garden, plant as many of these lovely flowers as possible. The annuals often seed themselves the following year, and the perennials, if well tended, can be expected to live a good long life.

In the world of poppies, the bright reds and oranges of California and Oriental varieties have a prominent place in the mind’s eye, but this arrangement celebrates the flower’s deeper, darker, more textured nature. Here, Kevin grouped bold purple varieties ‘Lauren’s Grape’ and ‘Black Swan’ on one side and lighter lavender ‘Sugar Plum’ and pink ‘French Flounce’ on the other, with a deep red focal point of ‘Drama Queen’. The arrangement counterbalances the humble milk-painted bucket container to beautiful effect.

In the Katonah garden in late June, sunshine highlights the veins in the whisper-thin ruffled petals of the opium or breadseed poppy (P. somniferum).

GROWING & ARRANGING

WITH THEIR DELICATE PETALS AND BOISTEROUS GOOD LOOKS, YOU MIGHT EXPECT POPPIES TO BE DIFFICULT TO GROW. YET ALMOST ANY BRIGHT, SUNNY BED OR OPEN FIELD SHOULD ACCOMMODATE POPPIES, AND AN ARRANGEMENT OF THESE FLOWERS ALWAYS DRAWS ATTENTION.

Poppies bloom for only about two weeks in early summer, and their brief season is something to celebrate at the Katonah farm. To get successive blooms, we sow seeds from early spring to late summer. In addition to (clockwise from top left) ‘Lauren’s Grape’, Flanders poppy, and ‘French Flounce’ shown here, we grow many varieties of Icelandic, California, and breadseed poppies.

HOW TO GROW

Poppies have wide single or double cups, with very thin petals that may be fringed, feathered, or splotched. The broad color palette includes all shades of white, purple, pink, and red, as well as glowing hues, like my favorite, a dark glowing orange Oriental poppy. (And for a true blue, there’s another species entirely, Meconopsis betonicifolia [see this page], which is extremely difficult to grow in most of North America.)

ZONE Different species of poppies can be grown in zones ranging from 2 to 9 (see this page); be sure to choose the variety best suited to your climate.

SOIL Poppies like moist, well-drained, friable soil. “Friable”’ means that when you squeeze it, the soil should hold together for a brief moment and then unclump on its own. To make your soil more friable, add plenty of organic matter (compost, raked leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds) to amend the consistency, and work it in thoroughly with a spade or tiller.

LIGHT All species of poppies need plenty of sun, at least six to eight hours per day.

CHOOSING Poppies can be planted from seed or already-germinated seedlings, available at nurseries and garden centers. (If this is your second season of poppies, however, the choice may not be up to you: the ripened seed heads will self-sow and take root just about anywhere, even on steep hillsides or in sparse soil between pathway stones.) If planting seedlings, make sure they are in biodegradable pots, as poppies are resistant to transplanting—Icelandic and some Oriental varieties are most adaptable. Look for young plants with a number of flower stems and unopened buds; skip any that have yellowed leaves, which can be an indication of root rot. Check the crown of the plant where the foliage meets the roots, and avoid any that appear soft or mushy.

PLANTING For successive blooms, sow the seeds repeatedly from early spring well into late summer. If the climate where you live is mild, sow poppies in the fall for early spring germination. To fill in foliage gaps left by summer-dormant species such as Oriental poppies, grow them among later-flowering perennials. At the farm in Katonah, I plant mine in mixed borders or scattered throughout the cutting garden.

Due to their tiny, specklike size, poppy seeds can be challenging to place exactly where you want them. The seeds can be black, white, brown, gray, or tan, and some gardeners mix them with light-colored sand in order to better see them. For a quick and easy planting technique in a large area, pierce small holes in the lid of a jam jar, combine three parts sand with one part seeds in the jar, and use as a seed shaker, sprinkling at will. This will help keep the seeds separated and less likely to clump too close together, potentially saving some effort when thinning the plants later. Sow seeds roughly 1 inch apart, and do not cover—it is very important that they receive light in order to germinate. Simply scatter on the soil surface and lightly scratch into the dirt. Water carefully with a watering can or a hose with a misting nozzle. When the poppies have reached a height of 3 to 4 inches, you may need to thin them. The seeds and seedlings are so tiny and numerous that they will grow too thickly if left alone. Pinch out clusters as the plants grow in order to prevent them from strangling one another. Continue pinching until you reach your desired number.

WATERING Although poppies are drought-resistant, deep watering promotes the development of a strong root system. Take care not to water too frequently, as the root crowns of poppies can rot easily, and blight or fungus can decimate the leaves. Poppies need good drainage; avoid waterlogged soil.

PRUNING With poppies other than Oriental types, cut down as soon as the foliage yellows and dies back. It’s important to clean out the dying leaves—but only once they’ve turned brown or black and are fully past. Unless you are saving the seeds (or waiting for decorative seed heads), deadhead the plants immediately after flowering to encourage more blooms before the end of the season.

PROPAGATING Poppies self-seed heavily, so what begins with one flower can easily turn into many. You can also propagate Oriental poppies with root cuttings. When the plants are dormant, dig up a clump of poppies, cut the “mother plant” clump midway down its roots, and separate the new root clump into individual pieces. Plant cuttings in potting mix and plant the emerging seedlings in the garden in spring.

TROUBLESHOOTING Poppies rarely attract pests or insects (other than beneficial ones like bees), but they can be prone to fungal diseases or rot in wet soil or damp weather conditions. If you know your garden is prone to damp conditions and diseases such as mildew or leaf spot, use an all-purpose fungicide preventively, and always discard—do not compost—any diseased foliage.

Poppy Species

Of the four main contributors to the spectacle of color in the late-spring garden, two are European annuals: Papaver somniferum, the breadseed or opium poppy (which is sometimes rumored to be illegal, but is in fact legal to grow for garden use in the United States), and P. rhoeas, the corn, Shirley, or Flanders poppy. P. nudicaule, the Icelandic poppy, is a delicate perennial best treated as an annual. And P. orientale, the Oriental poppy, is a big, showy perennial, and one to grow if you live in a hotter climate.

The OPIUM POPPY, also known as the breadseed poppy, is a hardy annual that can grow up to 4 feet tall in Zones 7 to 10. We grow a few versions at the farm, as I did at Turkey Hill in Westport. They can produce quite large ornamental seedpods after blooming, which look beautiful in the garden and can be dried for arrangements. I have ‘Black Peony’, ‘Rose Peony’, ‘Danish Flag’, and ‘Lauren’s Grape’, among other varieties, in my gardens.

The CORN POPPY grows from 1 to 3 feet tall, has flowers of about 3 inches in diameter, and is hardy from Zones 4 to 8. In its wild form, P. rhoeas is pure scarlet, but hybridization has greatly enlarged the color range. The ‘American Legion’ variety is bright red. One strain, the Shirley poppy, bred by a Reverend W. Wilks in Shirley, England, in the late nineteenth century, bears flowers in pastel shades banded in white. Hybridized strains such as ‘Fairy Wings’ offer glowing purples and shades of slate and mauve tinged with gray.

The ICELANDIC POPPY comes in more than eighty varieties, grows 1 to 2 feet tall, and blooms from late spring through summer; it can also rebloom, as it does in Katonah, in very late summer or early fall, as the weather cools. Flowers can be orange, red, yellow, apricot, pink, salmon, or white, and the plant is hardy in Zones 2 to 8. It grows well in borders where the slender stems can intertwine with other plants. It also attracts birds, butterflies, and bees; the varieties on my farm tend to self-seed readily and are great bloomers.

The ORIENTAL POPPY blooms from late spring to midsummer for only a few weeks (up to three if it’s not too rainy). It comes in brilliant shades, most notably red-orange or bright scarlet with purple-black centers. It can grow up to 4 feet tall and its blossoms can be more than 6 inches in diameter. It has nice leaves in spring and early summer, which die down during the heat but come up again in the fall. It is hardy in Zones 3 to 8. Though I grow many types, the Oriental poppies are some of my favorites—we have them in the cutting garden as well as along the pergola at Katonah.

The easiest and most successful way to show off a bunch of fresh-cut poppies is to place them individually, as we did here with vintage cordial glasses arranged on a cut-glass tray. With stems clipped short, the naturally floppy poppy will stand upright in a small vessel. This tableau spotlights several varieties from my garden (clockwise from bottom left): red ‘Drama Queen’, lavender ‘French Flounce’, rosy red ‘Oh La La’, classic red-orange Oriental poppies, ‘Lauren’s Grape’, pinkish purple ‘Cupcake’, and frilly ‘Sugar Plum’.

The addition of the beautiful green Gunnera leaf took this mix of opium poppy hybrids (including ‘Lauren’s Grape’, ‘Drama Queen’,‘Cupcake’, and ‘Raspberry Breadseed’) and lady’s mantle in a delightfully unexpected direction. “This is the arrangement that changed my life when it came to arranging flowers,” says Kevin. “Martha was putting in tons of poppies and adding the lady’s mantle—and to me, it looked beautiful and finished.” But it needed one more thing—a big green leaf. As he puts it, “So I hand her this Gunnera leaf, and she sticks it into the side—and suddenly it went from being this balanced arrangement that’s easily understood to becoming a masterpiece that you could just sit and stare at all day.”

HOW TO ARRANGE

CUTTING Corn poppies and Icelandic poppies are varieties that make especially good cut flowers. Cut the blooms when the buds are standing upright and show a bit of color—just before the petals are ready to open out. When cutting poppies, keep a bucket of water at your side so that you can plunge the stems directly into it. If there’s severe weather in the forecast, cut any blooming poppies sooner rather than later. A heavy rainfall can decimate the delicate petal structure, leaving your flowers denuded and crushed; likewise, a sudden early-season heat wave can “cook” the blooms right off your poppies (mature plants, later in the summer, should be able to withstand a little heat).

MAINTAINING With poppies and other flowers that have a milky sap in the stem (such as hollyhocks), it’s very important to seal the cut end, or they will wilt quickly in arrangements. Use a match, a candle, or a gas flame to singe the end of the stem, or dip it in boiling water for twenty to thirty seconds. This stops the flow of sap, which can clog the stem and prevent it from taking in water. After singeing, place the flowers in fresh water.

ARRANGING Poppies have a tendency to flop; you can prop them up by setting them next to sturdier flowers that can act as supports. With their concentration of color and their dark centers, putting them at the heart of an arrangement draws the eye in and gives the grouping a layered depth.

The vibrant reds of Orientals are a perfect companion to green accents, such as a fern or the dark, variegated and pointed leaf of the Virginia knotweed (Persicaria virginianum). The mimosa tree is particularly fragrant when poppies are in bloom, and its sunny yellow flowers on swooping branches are among Kevin’s favorites (see this page). Poppies are beautiful even when they’ve dropped their petals—the dried seedpods make great sculptural elements within a bouquet.

Poppy petals can be extremely fragile, so arranging with these flowers is a lesson in patience. Take care when positioning a bloom or manipulating an arrangement; plan ahead to avoid handling the delicate flower heads too much. Icelandic poppies are more long lasting and stable in arrangements than Oriental varieties. You can show off their twisting, turning stems and ruffled petals in an airy display. (To stand the stems upright, use a spiked frog in the bottom of the vase.)

In this arrangement, your eye is immediately drawn to the poppy, with its focus-stealing bright red petals and dark center. With a star flower like this one, add supporting players within a limited palette of two or three colors. White-species peonies and tufts of light-green lady’s mantle give the bouquet body, slender-budded Baptisia stems extend its reach, and striated Carex grasses flow over the edges of the pitcher, mimicking the branches of the trees in the English transferware pitcher’s Blue Willow pattern.

An intricately patterned Edwardian-era bone-china pitcher with a gold vermeil glaze has a wide mouth that encourages a mass of flowers. Here, that flower is the iconic poppy, the red Oriental, with its deep, dark center. It’s combined with orange Oriental lilies in bud and bloom to create a lush portrait in warm, saturated color. To break up all that red, Kevin added green leaves—spotted Pulmonaria (lungwort) and striped Oxalis (wood sorrel).

A creamware bowl is the natural choice for a vessel meant to hold a profusion of blooms in creamy shades. Here, Kevin took a palette of pastels inspired by his favorite candies to create an arrangement that gathers three of the most joyful signs of spring and summer: poppies, fragrant mimosa, and tulips. The structure of the Icelandic poppy stem makes it easier to work with than the floppy Oriental, but a cage frog placed inside will allow you to precisely manipulate the flowers.

The blooms of double-peony-flowered ‘French Flounce’ poppies are dense, textured, gorgeous tufts. By design, this arrangement—composed as a pair, in shiny wire woven vases atop a silver tray—mimics the shape of the blossom itself. The ruffled leaves of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla) mirror the poppies and anchor them, while lady’s mantle flowers lend frothy grace notes.