Shirley Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

http://iekaito.notlong.com 2 June 2008 Shirley Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

This is the first bloom of the Shirley Poppy for 2008. There are many throughout the garden, and they self seed over-winter. One plant will produce about 100 blooms if it is not crowded. I usually have some blooming most of the summer. Zone 5.

 

http://zeezo.notlong.com/ 8 June 2008 Shirley Poppies.

Finally some colour in the garden.

 

http://taesiil.notlong.com/ 17 June 2008 Shirley Poppy- ONE plant.

Poppy seedlings are very delicate and much crowded due to the small seed size. All that is required is one plant, and if they are not crowded one plant produces many flowers. One never knows what to expect in flowers, until they bloom. I am always thinning them to about one foot from each other.

 

Nice pics!

For anyone that's wondering, the Shirley Poppies are a cultivar group of mostly double-flowered and variably coloured forms of the Common Poppy (Papaver rhoeas). The wild Common Poppy always has just four petals; pic here: http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=1693

 

"Today we are rather more imprecise about what we call a 'Shirley' poppy. It has become useful shorthand for any strain of Papaver rhoeas - for instance, the forms selected after the Second World War by artist and gardener Sir Cedric Morris and known collectively as 'Mother of Pearl'."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2004/05/29/ggrow29.xml

 

http://ohdaak.notlong.com/ 22 June 2008 Shirely Poppy in Full Bloom