Papaver Species, Spanish Poppy

Synonym: Papaver atlanticum.

Hardy to Z4

Flowers are a beautiful soft creamsicle orange, and last only a da...Read Morey. Flowering begins with a flush in June and then persists, one or two flowers at a time, into late fall. I shear plants back when the accumulating seedpods start looking messy. Foliage usually also needs a cutback in late summer if it gets lanky/ragged. Performs well under crowded border conditions, which also helps conceal the foliage.

This is 18-24" tall in bloom, most of which is wiry flower stem.

I've read that this makes a good (though not longlasting) cut flower if cut when the bud is just showing color and the cut ends of the stems are dipped in boiling water---as for any poppy.

Adaptable from full sun to part shade. This is a reliable self-sower, not excessively aggressive in its self-sowing. There are strains with single flowers as well as the one with double flowers.

The correct name may be Papaver rupifragum var. atlanticum. There are numerous synonyms for this species. A staff horticulturist at the Montreal Botanic Gardens has suggested that it's actually Papaver nordhagenianum ssp. islandicum, or is it P. radiatum ssp radiatum (Arctic poppy)? I just call it "that cute little orange poppy."

This a cheery little poppy from southern Spain where it grows wild in crevices of the limestone cliffs. It's easily grown from seed and b...Read Morelooms throughout the summer bearing orange, 2-inch blooms with delicate, crimped petals. Self sown seedlings can be dug and moved while small but the larger plants resent transplanting and root disturbance.