Papaver orientale Royal Wedding - Oriental Poppy

Papaver orientale 'Royal Wedding' is a large variety of oriental poppy, full of elegance and prestige. Its immense crumpled corollas, resembling pure white silk, have beautiful dark central macules at their base, and reveal a bicoloured heart, with a crimson to purple centre surrounded by a black ring. They bloom on tall stems in late spring and early summer. The stems become more numerous as the plant matures. This perennial plant is easy to grow in the sun in all good garden soils. When picked as buds, the flowers are superb in bouquets.

Papaver orientale is an herbaceous perennial of the Papaveraceae family, originating from Asia. The cultivar 'Royal Wedding' is a horticultural creation introduced to the market in 1996. This plant has robust stems of approximately 80cm (32in) in height. It forms a bushy clump that becomes fuller over time. Flowering begins in early June and continues into July, usually stopped by heat and drought. Each flower stalk carries a single pendant bud, which turns upwards towards the sky, giving birth to a large flower, approximately 20cm (8in) in diameter, with crumpled petals arranged in 2 rows, of a sparkling, translucent white, maculated with dark purple at the base of the corolla. The flower remains in bloom for a few hours before dropping its petals. Well-established plants produce several flower stalks, ensuring the renewal of flowers for about 3 weeks. After flowering, the foliage tends to die down, leaving a small basal rosette in autumn, which is characteristic of an adaptation to high temperatures and summer drought. This plant has broad, crumpled, and hairy leaves, giving it a decorative grey-blue hue. Its fleshy and deep roots do not tolerate transplantation well, especially in mature plants.

Oriental poppies are equally at home in sophisticated flower beds as they are in cottage gardens or rustic compositions. Their silky and slightly dishevelled foliage forms an opulent bluish-green clump that stands out in flower beds. Pair them with mugworts, lavenders, asters, and nepetas with light blooms. They also beautifully accompany autumn stonecrops, whose foliage develops during the summer, as well as Damask wallflowers and cosmos for a summery atmosphere with soft colours. In any case, plant them with perennials as they will fill the space left empty after flowering.

It completely disappears to enter dormancy in the middle of summer and re-emerges in autumn to bloom a second time as soon as the temperatures become milder.