California Poppy Fruit Crush Seeds - Eschscholzia californica

These California Poppies also called Eschscholzia californica Fruit Crush have simple flowers with well-opened corollas in zingy shades of citrus and berries : yellow, orange, bright pink and red. The flowers blend together in a delightful jumble, high above a feathery foliage of a splendid bluish-green hue. Ideal for use in flowerbeds, rock gardens and borders, these annuals are self-seeding and are easy to grow in the sun, in any drained soil, even a poor one.

California Poppy ‘Fruit Crush' is a variety obtained from Eschscholzia californica, a short-lived perennial native to California and the Southwestern United States. This plant develops a taproot and quickly forms a clump of foliage, 25 cm in height and width. The leaves are pinnate, finely cut and of a particularly attractive colour varying between bluish green and green-grey, that contrasts nicely with the colour of the flowers. Depending on when the seeds were sown, flowering takes place from spring to summer. It reveals, in the midst of its foliage, simple flowers in the shape of well-opened, silk-textured cups that reflect the sun and only open when it is bright enough. Depending on the plant, they come in a variety of vivid, zesty, solid shades of red, very bright pink, yellow or orange. The flowers are melliferous and nectar-rich and are followed by the formation of long, tapering, 7 to 8 cm long, glaucous capsules that contain tiny seeds.

California poppies are a godsend for dry gardens, rock gardens, poor, difficult soils and seaside gardens. They can be sown in perennial beds, natural areas of the garden or even in pots. They are perfect plants for maintenance-free gardens or weekend gardens. Their colours blend beautifully with light blue and mauve hues. They are pretty but short-lived in bouquets.