Opium Poppy Summer Fruits Mix Seeds - Papaver somniferum

This mix of Opium Poppy or Papaver somniferum Summer Fruits Mix offers a flavorful selection of annual poppies with large, double, ruffled flowers in a beautiful palette of raspberry or cherry red, strawberry ice pink, pastel pink, soft salmon variegated with pink, white and even almost-black purple. They are carried by sturdy stems emerging from very ornamental, silver-green foliage. This variety is easy to sow directly and will thrive in full sun, in light, well-prepared soil.

The opium poppy 'Summer Fruits Mix' is a recent and original horticultural variety from the seed company Thompson & Morgan. It belongs to the Papaveraceae family and is derived from Papaver somniferum var. nigrum which is found in the mountains of Asia, but also in Europe, on limestone soils where common poppies usually grow. This plant, which probably originated in the regions between the Mediterranean and Anatolia, has given rise to a multitude of varieties that have long been cultivated for ornamental purposes.

The plants from 'Summer Fruits Mix' display magnificent, undulating, silvery-green foliage, made up of beautifully lobed, elliptical leaves with scalloped margins. From its 30 to 45 cm wide clump of foliage, tall stems sprout up from June to August, bearing sumptuous, solitary flowers, 80 to 90 cm above the ground. They are fully double, very open and measure 8 cm in diameter. They are made up of slightly ruffled petals and each flower being a different shade, they are most often unicoloured but can also be variegated. Summer blooms give way to a characteristic fruit, filled with small very ornamental black seeds which take on a slate blue sheen as it dries. Their aspect changes with the light because of the film of crystallized wax that protects their surfaces. Opium poppies have a taproot that is not very resistant to transplanting so it is best to sow them in place. 

Opium poppies are comfortable in sophisticated gardens, in cloister-type gardens and gardens without gardeners. They make it possible to quickly and effortlessly create seas of infinitely delicate flowers that seem to dance on the silvery foam of their foliage, producing a stirring spectacle of vivid, dark or pastel colours. Although they are not very long-lasting in bouquets, the flowers of the opium poppy 'Summer Fruits Mix' are extremely charming when planted in masses in front of tall daisies, the moving blades of ornamental grasses or even in pots on the patio. This annual plant, like the cosmos, has no equivalent for occupying the open sunny spaces between annuals or large perennials such as Helianthus, whose flowers take over later in the season. 

Once the flowering period is over, the fruit remains providing a precious asset for dry bouquets, but also the poppy straw, which is often perceived in more wild areas as a majestic element of the garden or a somewhat enigmatic remnant of summer.