Papaver orientale Allegro - Oriental Poppy

Papaver orientale 'Allegro' is a variety of Oriental Poppy. It is beautiful like a simple poppy and easy to grow. Its crumpled silk corollas are spectacular in size, with a soft texture, and adorned with a red-orange scarlet colour enhanced by large black central spots. They bloom in late spring and summer, dominating a silky, slightly disorderly, opulent dark green foliage. This stout variety has retained the natural appearance of a wild plant. It has excellent resistance to wind, cold, and drought. A perennial accustomed to cultivated gardens, it thrives in all good garden soils, in the sun.

Papaver orientale is an herbaceous perennial of the Papaveraceae family. It is native to Asia. The 'Allegro' cultivar has robust stems measuring about 70cm (28in) in height. It forms a bushy clump reaching 40cm (16in) in height (for the foliage) and 50cm (20in) in width. Flowering begins in early June and continues into July, usually stopped by heat and drought. Each floral stem carries a single pendulous bud that turns towards the sky, giving birth to a large flower, about 15cm (6in) in diameter, with petals wrinkled in 2 rows. The flowers are a bright red tinged with orange, and marked with large black spots at the base of the corolla. The flower remains open for a few hours before dropping its petals. Well-established plants produce several floral stems, ensuring the renewal of flowers for about 3 weeks. After flowering, the foliage tends to disappear, leaving room for a small basal rosette in autumn, which is characteristic of an adaptation to high temperatures and summer drought. This plant has large, rough, divided, and villous leaves, giving them a very decorative grey-blue reflection. Its fleshy and deep roots do not tolerate transplantation well, especially in adult plants.

Oriental poppies are just as comfortable in sophisticated flower beds as they are in cottage gardens or country compositions. Pair them with wormwoods, lavenders, asters, and light-flowering nepetas. They also beautifully accompany autumn stonecrops, whose foliage develops during summer, Damask wallflowers, and cosmos for a summery atmosphere with soft colours. Accompany them with perennials, as they will fill the space left empty after flowering.