Iceland Poppies – The Papaver

When a plant is so hardy as to be the glory of the Arctic, it should be put to good use in wild gardens and perennial borders in the colder parts of our own country. Many years ago, I had my first packet of Iceland poppy seed, Papaver nudicaule, from a Canadian summer resort where I had admired its profusion of bloom. These poppies were all yellow and orange, dancing brilliantly atop their long slender stems. Since then many newer and more beautiful pastels and whites have been added. Some have double flowers and nearly all blooms grow much larger… often 4 inches or more in diameter.

Here the plant is a short-lived perennial, with a very long period of spring bloom if seed is not allowed to develop. Self-sown plants become inferior year by year and should be discarded in favor of seed commercially grown.

These poppies have innumerable uses. With the blue flax, near the soft tones of the timber phlox, with clumps of blue columbine, in front of iris, back of perennial candytuft, and in many other combinations, they form part of an ever-pleasing picture. They are beautiful, too, in masses in front of shrubbery. They do remarkably well in full sun, but in partial shade their season of bloom is even longer. And they all repeat bloom in the autumn.

For cutting they are unsurpassed. Their colors are clear and varied, and even in arrangements their slender grace gives the effect of movement as few other spring flowers do. When we want an arrangement to capture all the freshness of spring, we cut them in the evening, selecting the unopened buds that indicate they are ready to bloom by lifting their drooping heads. We plunge the stems inch deep into boiling water for a moment, then immediately into a vase of cold water. Placed on the breakfast table, they delight the early risers by taking off their caps and unfolding their silken petals. For four days afterwards, we enjoy their bloom, as blossoms so treated last as long in water as they do in the garden.

Their culture is simple. Seed sown in August produces blooming plants the following spring. Most greenhouses provide plants in bands ready to bloom, if you do not care to grow your own. They require no special culture and are not troubled by pests. Like other poppies, they prefer rather poor, dry soil to rich ground and overwatering. Where the soil is soggy and drainage poor, their lives are shortest, but even under such conditions, they usually give generously of their glorious bloom for two or three seasons. All in all, for a long-blooming, generous, lovely plant, they have few equals.

by Patricia McCormick

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Pleasing Poppies – Wildings to Tame
• Lupines – From the Wills Garden Series
• Oriental Poppies
• Planning Your Perennial Border