Wild About Poppies

Perhaps best known as a symbol of remembrance, poppies have a great deal to offer our gardens too. While we’ve yet to see, at the time of writing, which plants will be the stars of Chelsea 2026, in previous years poppies have featured strongly in award-winning designs. Colourful, versatile, tough and eager to self-seed, these are vibrant, generous plants. They’re also relatively trouble-free.

Grow them in informal, cottage and wildflower gardens, weaving them through lavender, ox-eye daisies, and lime-green euphorbias. While some are red, others are orange, yellow, apricot and cream, or pink, lilac, deep purple and almost-black. One of the joys of poppies is that they look good with most other plants, as long as they’re not too large. Another is that there’s a poppy for almost every place in the garden. While many prefer a sunny spot, others require gentle shade. Allow them to spring up where they like and weed out those you don’t want.

Their open, bowl-like blooms are a hit with bees too. While they generally don’t produce nectar, they do have pollen in abundance which is easy to access because of the shape of the flowers. An essential source of protein for queen bumblebees when they emerge from hibernation, it’s also fed to larvae and young bees. Some beetles forage on it as well. One species of bee has found another use for poppies too. The petals of the field poppy are used by the European poppy mason bee, Hoplitis papaveris, to line its nest.

The good looks of poppies aren’t just restricted to their flowering period. Their tactile, furry, nodding buds are ripe with promise, gradually lifting and opening to reveal the papery petals within. At the other end of summer, the seedheads of opium poppies and others are almost globe-like, crowned with a rosette which gives them the look of a carefully crafted pot or handless jug. They make homely but shapely indoor decorations when dried, either left in their natural state or sprayed silver or gold.

Mature seedheads are softly buff-coloured, tiny holes appearing just under the crown when ready to disperse their seeds. To help them scatter, either chop them off or leave them on the plant and gently shake. Although many poppies self-seed freely, they have a tendency to sulk before gradually giving up and dying when transplanted from their chosen spot. They prefer to find their own way.

There are several types of poppy. Below are six of the most popular, suitable for a variety of garden situations.

Plucky, often-underrated yellow and orange-flowered Welsh poppies, Papaver cambricum, deserve a higher profile. While most poppies are at their best in full sun,these prefer to grow in part-shade and will even flourish in inhospitable areas that rarely see the sun. Preferring damp conditions, they nevertheless cling on and bloom in shady cracks and crannies with very little water. They also tolerate full sun but need plenty of moisture to do so. Hardy, perennial and flowering over a long period from late spring to early autumn, they can be enthusiastic self-seeders but are easily controlled by weeding out young plants so shouldn’t become invasive. Although the paper-thin petals and ferny leaves look delicate, these plants are actually as tough as old boots. Great for wildflower and informal gardens, they’re best grown from seed and are particularly popular with bumblebees, whose buzzing sounds extra-loud as it reverberates within the flower cups.

Flamboyant and large-flowered, oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) usually flower in May and June, adding oodles of pzazz to beds and borders. The species form of this hardy perennial plant is crimson with a dark centre but cultivars are available in colours from palest salmon pink through orange to magenta, plum and white. The petals of some are frilled at the edges. Large, dark green, finely divided hairy leaves spread outwards, meaning that they take up more space than some other types. Plant them in full sun to encourage them to perform at their best. Try ever-popular deep mauve ‘Patty’s Plum’, ‘Royal Wedding’ – white with a black centre, rosy ‘Pink Perfection’ or pale salmon ‘Coral Reef’.

Springing from churned up mud, scattered in their thousands across the barren battlefields of the Western Front and Gallipoli, their colour emblematic of spilled blood but also representing hope amidst the horror of the First World War, were scarlet field poppies. Perhaps one of our best loved flowers, annual Papaver rhoeas blooms in June and July. In times gone by it was often seen in cultivated fields and is still to be found popping up on the verges of sunny country lanes. Preferring full sun, it does well in gravel and coastal gardens and is frequently a part of wildflower meadow mixes along with cornflowers, corncockles and ox-eye daisies. The seeds can lie dormant in soil for many years. Apart from the wild, red form, there are cultivars in pink, apricot, orange and white.

Also a eye-catching feature in gravel and coastal gardens but equally at home in informal borders are Californian poppies. Eschscholzia californica bloom around June, July and August in orange, yellow, cream and sometimes pink or lilac, their soft, grey-green asparagus-like foliage adding to their charms. Thriving in full sun and poor soil in exposed conditions, they’re short-lived perennials which are grown as annuals here. However, some may make it through a mild winter to flower again the following year. Best grown from seed.

Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy, flowers in July and August. Known as the source of opiate-based medication and other, less legitimate substances, it’s also the plant that gives us the poppy seeds that add flavour and crunch to breads and cakes. Blooms are often rich lilac with dark blotches at the base but can also be red and deeper purple as well as pink or white. Thought to have originated in North Africa and Southwest Europe, it has naturalised widely, used and probably cultivated for thousands of years. In the UK, seeds have been found in archaeological material dating back to the Bronze Age or earlier. Preferring full sun, this annual does well in exposed situations and is tolerant of drought. Richly plum-coloured P. somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’ was named an RHS ‘standout plant’ after its starring role in The Octavia Hill Garden at Chelsea in 2024, while ‘Maanzaad’ is white with deep purple blotches and is said to be the best for edible seeds!

Striking, sky blue Himalayan poppy, Meconopsis baileyi, flowers between late spring and summer, its golden stamens shining out against the petals. A substantial plant at around 1.2m tall, it’s also known as M. betonicifolia. Perennial and hardy to around -15 degrees C, it can, however, be short-lived. Although potentially demanding, it’s well worth a try if you’re looking for a project to test the mettle of your green fingers. Mimicking its natural habitat as closely as is feasible will give the greatest chance of success. Plant in part shade in a sheltered spot in neutral to acid soil that’s well-drained but doesn’t dry out. Adding leaf mould will help considerably. M. baileyi prefers cool, damp summers and is not a fan of too much heat. Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’ is said to be longer lived than many. Although smaller than M. baileyi, it has larger, brighter blue flowers.

Kaleidoscopically colourful, most types of poppy are dependable and easy to grow. Wild or tamed, trending Chelsea stars or not, they deserve a winning place in our gardens.

We may not have all the plants listed in our stores but our staff will be happy to suggest alternatives.

https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/10-oriental-poppies-to-grow

https://anzacday.org.au/the-poppy-is-for-sacrifice

https://www.kew.org/plants/opium-poppy