Perennial poppy is a beautiful plant with exquisite flowers. Despite the short flowering period, it is still popular with some flower growers. The flower has been known since ancient Rome. In those days, as now, it was successfully used in medicine.
Description
Poppy is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Poppy family. It is perennial, annual and biennial. In total, there are about 100 of its species in nature, and in our country and in the near abroad - about 75.
Flowers solitary, regular shape, stem long and thin, sometimes pubescent, sometimes smooth.
Carved leaves are in perfect harmony with delicate shades of pink, scarlet, yellow, orange, white and even bicolor flowers.
Poppy fruits - boxes, as if closed from above with a carved round cap.
Types and varieties of poppy
Many of us are accustomed to the wild form of this flower: delicate scarlet petals with a black spot at the base of the bowl. ButThere are also many multi-colored varieties of decorative perennial poppy of varying degrees of doubleness. Consider the most common of them.
opium poppy
The most common is the annual opium poppy. Flowers come in varying degrees of doubleness and color: pink, red, purple, purple, lilac, white. Plant height average 90 cm, diameter approximately 15 cm.
In gardens, the peony form of the poppy is often planted, featuring larger double flowers.
There are many varieties of this rather unpretentious and tender plant. We list the most beautiful:
- 'Black Cloud'. The plant is an annual. The stems are tall (up to 1 m), straight, green. On the peduncles there are single, peony-shaped, dark purple flowers with a diameter of about 10 cm. The beginning of flowering is July-August, lasting an average of 30 days. This variety has a fairly high cold resistance.
- ‘Salmon Cloud’. An annual plant. The leaves are bluish-green, the stem is upright, up to 100 cm high. Terry orange-scarlet flowers, about 10 cm in diameter, begin to bloom in July. The duration of flowering is on average 30 days.
Poppy self-seed
Herbaceous annual plant about 80 cm high. Flowers can be simple, double and semi-double. The colors are very different: red, pink, white, with a border (white, red). Reproduction is most often by seed. Poppy self-seed has many forms and varieties.
Poppy hollow-stem
Perennial poppy. The plant is low (20-50 cm), the flowers are quite small (in5 cm in diameter), but they are white, yellow, orange. Such beautiful flowers grow in abundance on Lake Baikal, in the upper Amur region, in Yakutia. The flowering period is June-July. The plant is widely used in medicine. One of the varieties is Atlant - a perennial poppy about 20 cm high. The flowers are solitary, white and yellow. Flowering begins in June and lasts 2 months.
Oriental perennial poppy
Of all the varieties of poppies that exist in nature, this species is considered the most beautiful and beloved among gardeners. Planting a perennial poppy and care will not require special knowledge and skills of agricultural technology. Sometimes there are some difficulties only when transplanting already adult plants.
Large, beautiful, rich red buds of this perennial poppy bloom in early summer. The plant is quite tall. Stems can reach up to a meter in height. Poppy grows quite powerful bushes, and thanks to the efforts of breeders, it boasts a variety of colors, different textures of the petals.
Oriental perennial poppy (planting and care will be discussed later in the article) can be propagated in several ways: by sowing seeds directly into the ground, by dividing the bush and by green shoots. Lateral shoots (cuttings) must first be rooted, and about two to three years must pass before they begin to bloom. Transplanting this plant is difficult, but still possible, even though the poppy does not respond well to moving to another place.
Consider furtherfeatures of planting a perennial poppy and caring for this beautiful plant.
When to sow oriental poppy?
If annual poppy varieties start blooming in the year they are planted, perennials are likely to bloom the following season (if seeds are sown in autumn). When planted in spring, flowers will appear on the bushes later than in autumn sowing. Poppies bloom by early summer.
The fruit of this plant is a box covered with a “lid” on top. When it dries, small holes appear between it and the lid. If you leave a box with seeds on a bush, as a result of self-seeding, seeds will spill out through these holes. And such a cycle will be repeated annually.
How to collect seeds?
It's easy: you need to wait until the boxes are completely dry, then carefully cut them and store them in a bag made of thick fabric. You can also leave greyish-black, small seeds of perennial poppy in boxes or, after removing the lid, pour the planting material into a glass container. Some right on the site wrap flower heads with gauze. This method prevents the seeds from waking up on the ground.
Landing
Planting an oriental perennial poppy is not at all difficult. Sowing material is planted immediately in the ground either in spring or autumn. As said earlier, flowers will appear in the second or even third year after sowing.
If the seeds are too small, they can even be stronglydo not deepen, but only lightly press.
When planting seeds for seedlings, when 5 young leaves appear, plants can be planted in beds or flower beds. But, as a rule, the seedling method is not used, and the seeds are immediately sown in a permanent place.
There is an opinion that stratification is necessary for good germination of poppy seeds. That is why experienced gardeners advise sowing in early spring, when there is a chance of frost. If planting is carried out in a region with a mild climate, it is better to sow poppies in the fall so that the seeds receive the necessary stratification. In the spring they will sprout safely.
Before planting a flower garden, you just need to loosen the ground with a rake and scatter the seed. Some flower growers mix it with sand. After that, the seeds are sprinkled on top with a thin layer of earth. At the same time, the main thing is not to deepen them too much, because later they may simply not have enough strength to ascend. The landing site needs to be watered, but not heavily flooded with water.
Features of Oriental poppy cultivation
This is a rather unpretentious plant that can tolerate low temperatures well. But, despite this, it loves sunny places, although it grows well and blooms in the shade. Like all flowers, perennial poppy, which is not at all difficult to care for, loves well-fertilized soil. To do this, use mineral top dressing or compost and humus. It is good to plant seeds in sandy soil. The plant reacts very poorly to abundant watering and stagnant water. Poppy garden perennial notafraid of stones in the soil, grows well on sandy soil. Thanks to the root in the form of a long rod, it extracts moisture from the ground, and can go without watering for a long time.
This type of poppy responds relatively well to transplantation, but this work is best done in the fall, when the rainy season comes. In order not to damage the roots, it is advisable to replant the plant together with an earthen clod. So it takes root better.
When digging the soil under the flower garden, it is important to take into account the peculiarities of the tap root system of this flower. The digging depth should be at least 30-40 cm. In this case, it is advisable to immediately apply compost or humus (5-10 kg of organic fertilizers are added for each square meter of soil). In one place, the flower grows well and blooms for 5-7 years, after which its place needs to be changed.
This perennial poppy (photo attached) is large, so even when planting (or transplanting) you need to make sure that the distance between the bushes is at least 50-70 cm.
You can lay mulch or peat. The flower will look more attractive. In addition, it will benefit the plant. Top dressing with mineral fertilizers can be carried out in the spring, during the period of leaf growth, and during budding, that is, immediately before flowering.
When to transplant oriental poppy?
Because this plant is a perennial, after 3-5 years it becomes a large sprawling shrub that can be divided and propagated. To do this, it is not necessary to completely remove the plant from the ground; you can carefully separate part of the rhizome from the side.
Say poppythe eastern one takes root well in a new place, it is impossible, but if you pay attention to it, provide proper care, surround it with care, the result will be successful.
It is important to consider that the roots of the flower are quite fragile, therefore, in order to get a good result, it is better to separate the roots from the sides. The most optimal time for this operation is May, when the poppy has not yet begun to bloom. To minimize the risk of breaking the rhizome, you need to separate part of the plant with a large clod of earth.
Reproduction by dividing the bush is good because after this procedure there is almost a 100% guarantee that all varietal characteristics of the species have been preserved. So the new bushes will have the same decorative properties as the mother plant. For this, a poppy bush is completely removed from the ground along with a clod of earth, then it is very carefully divided into several parts. They are seated at a distance of about 70 cm from each other. It must be remembered that for the winter, in the first year of life, the plants will need to be hidden under any covering material.
Oriental poppy can also be propagated by cuttings. To do this, side shoots are separated from the bush. Then, the resulting cuttings are kept in a disinfectant composition for about a day (Kornevin solution can also be used to stimulate root formation). At the end of the specified time, shoots are planted in containers with loose and moist soil, covered with transparent plastic disposable cups or plastic wrap. After the roots appear, the cuttings are transplanted into a flower bed. If you need to transplant a whole bush to a new place, they dig it out along with earthenclod immediately after flowering.
Oriental poppy in garden design
Unfortunately, the poppy does not please with its bright beautiful flowering for long.
In a vase, cut flowers can stand for no more than a day, and in a blooming flower bed - a maximum of 3 days. Then the plant begins to lose petals, only a box with seeds remains on the bud. But even such a bush has a peculiar beauty. A round-shaped seed box is crowned with a “lid” with beautiful carved edges, and its graceful thin stem raises it above the rest of the plants in the flower garden.
Oriental poppy is a fairly tall plant that blends harmoniously with other flowers. It can be used as a background for undersized garden representatives or as a separate decorative part of the flower garden. You can put a poppy at the back of the flower bed. During its short flowering period, it will show itself, so to speak, in all its glory, while neighboring flowers will only grow. That way they won't obscure it during their flowering.
On the flower garden, as the main accent, poppy looks harmoniously with geraniums, blue or white garden bells, oregano, yarrow, lupins, irises. Plants that have decorative leaves, such as astilbes or hostas, can act as framing for poppy bushes. In order to close the bush after flowering, you can plant perennials with wide spreading leaves next to it, for example, trillium or buzulnik. The oriental poppy planted along the borders looks good, but one should not forget about its high growth.
It is desirable to have any support near the bushes, asunder its own weight, the plant can lie on the ground.
Features of care
Caring for a plant after flowering involves cutting off yellowed and dried leaves and stems - this is done if they do not plan to collect seeds. The ground part of the plant is cut near the soil itself. In early autumn, new leaves will appear, but not so tall and sprawling. If you need to save the seeds, then after flowering is over, everything is left as it is, they wait for the seed pods to dry, then carefully cut them off. After collecting the seed material, the ground part of the plant is cut off. Before the arrival of cold weather, the bushes can be covered with mulch, but this is not necessary, since they are quite frost-resistant.
Diseases
The plant can be affected by ash (powdery mildew), black spot. The affected bush must be irrigated with special preparations containing copper, for example, copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture, Maxim contact fungicide, Topaz systemic fungicide. If the bush is affected by the disease, all affected shoots and leaves must be cut and burned, and the poppy itself should be fertilized with potash top dressing.
In order to maintain varietal qualities, planting and caring for perennial poppy must be carried out separately from its other species. This is necessary so that the flowers do not pollinate among themselves and do not change the varietal color and texture of the petals.
Planting these lush and beautiful flowers in your flower bed, you can admire them for several years.
