Oriental Poppy Brilliant Seeds - Papaver orientale

The silky flowers of this oriental poppy also known as Papaver orientale Brilliant are of a dazzling scarlet hue, marked with black blotches in the centre of the petals. This timeless and hardy perennial is easy to sow in sunny beds and will enliven them all summer long. It is also characterized by its vigorous vegetation and solid stems emerging from beautiful bluish-green foliage. Its pretty fruits at the end of the season are useful in dried flower arrangements.

Papaver orientale or Oriental Poppy is a herbaceous perennial of the papaveraceae family that is native to Asia. The cultivar 'Brilliant' is a horticultural selection of proven merit and is easily grown from seed. This plant has sturdy stems of about 70 cm in height. It forms a bushy clump of up to 45 cm high (for the foliage) and 50 cm wide. Flowering starts at the beginning of June and continues through July, usually halting with the heat and drought. Each floral spike bears a single nodding bud at its tip that turns towards the sky, giving rise to a large, single flower with silky, slightly crumpled petals of a very bright red, marked with jet black blotches at their base. The flower remains in full bloom for a few hours before dropping its petals. Well-established plants produce several flower stems, ensuring the renewal of the flowers for about 3 weeks. Once flowering is over, the foliage tends to disappear, giving way in autumn to a small basal rosette, which is a typical feature of adaptation to high temperatures and summer drought. This plant has large, rough, cut leaves that are covered with hairs which give them a very decorative grey-blue sheen. The deep, fleshy roots of this oriental poppy do not tolerate transplanting, especially those of adult plants. 

An excellent plant for flower beds, the 'Brilliant' oriental poppy blooms during a slow period for most plants (between spring and summer flowering). It goes very well with the anise green colours of Euphorbia cyparissias or Alchemilla mollis. Oriental poppies are just as at home in sophisticated flower beds as they are in monastic gardens or more rural schemes. Combine them with the airy blooms of sagebrush, lavender, asters and catnips. They also go beautifully with Ceratostigma plumbaginoides or Blue deadwood whose blooms will take over later in the year, love-in-a-mist, coneflowers and mulleins, creating a soft-coloured, summery atmosphere. In any case, combine them with perennials since they will fill the space left empty after their last blooms. They are also tough and undemanding plants, capable of living in poor, stony soils that dry out in the summer.