California poppy

California poppy: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Low, loose, somewhat spreading plant 20–30 cm tall and about 30 cm wide.

Leaves

Finely divided and ferny, blue-grey.

Flower

Four silky petals forming an open cup 5–7 cm across; they close in the evening and in dull weather.

Colour

Bright orange with a darker centre in the wild; selections in yellow, cream, pink, red and salmon.

Fruit

Long, narrow, ribbed seed pods up to 8 cm that split open when ripe and fling out the seed.

Roots

A long taproot: transplanting almost never works.

Flowering: June–September · Sowing: March–May and September · Pruning: July

Why grow it?

• Flowers from June to September in the driest, poorest spots.
• Drought-tolerant: once established it hardly needs any water.
• Bees come for its plentiful pollen.
• Self-seeds every year: sow once and enjoy it for years.
• The fine, blue-grey foliage is attractive even without flowers.
• Ideal in a gravel garden, between paving or along a sunny edge.

California poppy: where does it grow best?

• Full sun: in shade the flowers stay closed.
• Poor, free-draining sandy or loamy soil, acid to chalky. In rich soil it grows lushly but flowers less.
• Dry: it dislikes wet feet.
• Thin to 20–30 cm between plants.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand or loam

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry

Size

0.3 m tall, 0.3 m wide

Hardiness

Tolerates light frost (to -5 °C)

Goes well with

• Cornflower: Blue next to orange, in the same poor, sunny spot.
• Feather grass: Airy stems among the orange flowers in a gravel garden.
• Catmint: A blue haze that goes beautifully with orange.
• Lavender: Grey leaves and purple spikes, also drought-tolerant.

California poppy: when and how to plant it?

1. Sow where it is to flower in March–May or in September; autumn sowings flower earlier the following year.
2. Rake the soil loose and fine, without manure or compost.
3. Scatter the seed thinly and rake it in very lightly, or cover it with a thin layer of sand.
4. Press down lightly and keep the seedbed moist until the seedlings appear, after one to three weeks.
5. Thin the seedlings to 20–30 cm apart: they cannot be moved because of the taproot.
6. After that, extra watering is rarely needed.

Care

Water

Only during germination and in an exceptionally dry spell.

Feeding

Not needed: feeding gives lots of leaves and fewer flowers.

Spent flowers

Remove faded flowers and green seed pods for longer flowering; leave a few at the end of the season for seed.

Cutting back

Shortening a sprawling plant by a third in July gives a new flush of flowers.

Self-seeding

It self-seeds readily; pull out seedlings in unwanted places while they are young.

Tip: Sow where it is to flower in a sunny, poor spot and never transplant it: the taproot will not tolerate it. Let a few seed pods ripen and it will come back by itself every year.

California poppy: when to prune it?

Pruning months: July.

When: Pruning is hardly needed. In July you can cut sprawling plants back by a third for a new flush of flowers.

How:

• Cut the stems back by about a third with scissors.
• Water afterwards if needed; a few weeks later it flowers again.
• In between, remove faded flowers and green seed pods.
• In September, let a few pods ripen if you want it to self-seed.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Let seed pods ripen until they are brown and dry, collect them before they split and sow straight away where they are to flower, in September or in spring.

Self-seeding

Simply leave seedlings that come up in a good spot; they will flower the following year.

California poppy: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −5 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Usually grown as an annual. Young plants from an autumn sowing tolerate frost down to about −5 °C.
• In a mild winter and on dry soil, a plant sometimes survives and flowers again the next year.
• Wet winters are a greater danger than cold: sow in a free-draining spot.

Diseases and pests

• Rot: Plants turn yellow and collapse on wet, heavy soil. Sow in a drier, free-draining spot.
• Aphids: On buds and stems. Spray them off with water.
• Slugs: They eat the seedlings. Protect young sowings and pick slugs off in the evening.
• Closed flowers: Normal in the evening and in cloudy weather. If they stay closed in fine weather too, the spot is too shady: sow somewhere sunnier.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in late summer. Not very harmful; cut back affected stems.

Through the year

• March: Sow outdoors in a sunny, poor spot.
• April: Sow. Thin out.
• May: Last sowing. Thin to 20–30 cm.
• June: First flowers. Remove faded flowers.
• July: Full flower. Cut sprawling plants back by a third.
• August: Flowering. Remove seed pods or let them ripen.
• September: Last flowers. Collect seed and sow outdoors for next year.
• October: Clear the plants away, or leave them to self-seed.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• It has been the official state flower of California since 1903.
• The genus is named after Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, a Baltic German physician and naturalist who visited California with a Russian expedition in the early nineteenth century.
• In warm weather the ripe seed pods split open, sometimes audibly, and fling the seed some distance.