Plant your oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) a.s.a.p upon receipt, in the garden. Prepare a large hole and thoroughly loosen the soil. Improve poor soil by adding some compost and a sprinkling of granulated cow manure. Add some sharp sand if the soil contains too much clay. Plant your poppy at the correct depth – the top of the root ball should come to just below soil level. Fill the hole with soil, heel well and water immediately. Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) will thrive in full sun or part shade in permeable, well drained soil.

Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) in the border

Oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) will be a real eye-catcher in your beds or borders early summer, thanks to the opulent, bright flowers. Poppies go terrifically well with Iris Germanica group (Bearded Iris) as well as Lupins. Plant a couple of late flowering plants in front of your poppies like Sidalcae (Malva) or Mondarda (bee balm). Poppies look great in the rockery too.

Water your oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) extra in periods of drought but don’t make the soil too wet as it won’t appreciate it. Snip out overblown flower stems entirely to encourage a strong reflowering. Flowering continues until July and often several flowers appear again in late summer. In late summer this plants stems above ground die back entirely. You can cut back all the spoiled foliage and new leaf will shoot from the base. Mulch the plants with a layer of leaf litter to get them through the winter and you will soon see new shoots. It’s best not to move this poppy around too much, leave it where you plant it.

There are loads of different cultivars of oriental poppy (Papaver orientale) around, varying in size, colour and shape (fringed, singles and doubles). The stems and the foliage is usually furred. Your clump of poppies will get bigger every year and give you more and more flowers.
All poppies are classified under Papaveraceae.