Papaver somniferum Applegreen

The Sleep-inducing Poppy or Papaver somniferum 'Applegreen' is a strange and fascinating annual poppy, displaying large and subtly unusual pompom flowers all summer in light green and creamy white colours above beautiful silver-green foliage. Very ornamental fruits follow, which are helpful in dried bouquets. This easy-to-sow and cultivate plant looks stunning when planted en masse along pathways or in flower borders. It thrives in well-worked, light soil in full sunlight.

The annual poppy 'Applegreen' is a recent and original horticultural variety discovered by chance in an English amateur gardener's garden. It comes from Papaver somniferum var. nigrum, found in Asian mountains and Europe on the limestone soils frequented by poppies. This plant, probably originating from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor regions, has given birth to many long-cultivated varieties for ornamental purposes. 'Applegreen' has magnificent silver-blueish foliage, with beautiful lobed and elliptical leaves displaying a notched edge. From this 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) wide foliage clump, tall stems rise from June to August, bearing sumptuous solitary flowers at 90 cm (35in) above the ground. The numerous petals that compose them are tightly packed and pleated like silky fabric to the centre of the flower. They are light apple green in the centre, appearing more cream-coloured at the petal tips. Like poppies, The flower's centre is adorned with a bouquet of black stamens around a yellow disc that only becomes visible as the flower fades. The flowering gives way to a characteristic fruit filled with tiny black seeds, very ornamental, which takes on slate blue reflections when dried, changing with the light due to the crystallised wax film that protects it. Sleep-inducing poppies have a taproot that does not tolerate transplantation well, so it is preferable to sow them in place.

At home in sophisticated gardens, sleep-inducing poppies allow for the rapid and effortless creation of oceans of infinitely delicate flowers, moving in their bright, dark, or pastel colours, dancing on the silver foam of their foliage. While not very long-lasting in bouquets, the 'Applegreen' Poppy flowers have an enchanting charm when planted en masse, in front of large daisies or the swaying foliage of grasses. This annual plant, like cosmos, is unparalleled in filling the empty spaces between annuals or large late-flowering perennials such as sunflowers, which take over in full sunlight.

Once the flowering is exhausted, there are still the fruits, valuable for dried bouquets and the poppy straw, in slightly wild areas, often seen as a majestic element of the garden or a somewhat enigmatic vestige of summer.