Opium Poppy Ooh la la Seeds - Pavaver somniferum

This mix of Opium Poppy or Papaver somniferum Ooh La La is imbued with great poetry.  It unfurls large, very double, frilly flowers in a wide range of light colours. They are carried by strong stems, standing proudly above a very ornamental, silver-green foliage and are followed by original fruit. This variety is easy to sow directly outside and will prosper in the sun, in light, well-prepared soil. 

The opium poppy 'Ooh La La' is a recent and original horticultural variety, belonging to the Papaveraceae or poppy family. It is derived from Papaver somniferum var. nigrum, which is found in the mountains of Asia, but also in Europe, on limestone soils where 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.

'Ooh La La' displays magnificent, undulating, silver bluish-green foliage with beautifully lobed, elliptical leaves with scalloped margins. From its 30 to 45 cm wide clump of foliage, tall stems emerge from June to August bearing 7 to 10 cm, solitary, pompom-shaped flowers, 80 cm above the ground. They are fully double and are made up of frilly petals that are either solid coloured or variegated and come in a range of white, pink, red and mauve hues. 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. 

Comfortable in sophisticated gardens, in medieval-type gardens and gardens without gardeners, opium poppies make it possible to quickly and effortlessly create oceans of infinitely delicate flowers that seem to dance on the silvery foam of their foliage, creating a stirring spectacle of vivid, dark or pastel colours. Although they are not very long-lasting in bouquets, the flowers of the opium poppy 'Ooh La La' are extremely charming when planted in large groups, in front of tall daisies, the dancing leaves of grasses or 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 sunflowers, 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.