Integrate Poppies in the Landscape
Annual poppies focus attention on landscape beds and borders; planned sequence of bloom is essential
Jul 26, 2006
Simply and effectively, integrate annual poppies into residential and commercial landscapes with advance planning and clever design. It is essential to know plant likes and dislikes as well as their idiosyncrasies before putting pencil to paper.
Constructing uniform plantings of one or more of the three annual poppies definitely requires foresight. If you want to assure a long bloom period, it is necessary to deadhead and to make successive sowings of seed.
However, a complete growing season of nothing but blooming poppies not only becomes boring, but is impossible. Moisture and high temperatures cause poppies to fade away, especially in landscapes located in southern climates.
Therefore, a workable design and plant scheduling are necessary to ensure a sequence of bloom for your selected location. Here is a succession that I attempt to use in a USDA Zone 5 location. You can, of course, modify choices depending upon location and preferences:
- April through May - naturalizing daffodils; foliage dies down and can be removed about June 15 in USDA Zone 5;
- May through June - Hesperis matronalis, Dame's Rocket, or Nigella damascena, Love-in-a-Mist, - allowed to self-sow or seeded the previous winter;
- June through July - Papaver spp., annual poppies, - seeded in early winter or late spring;
- July through September - reblooming daylilies such as 'Eenie Weenie,' 'Black-eyed Stella' and 'Barbary Corsair' begin to emerge as poppies begin to produce seedpods; careful selection of cultivars, deadheading and grooming should allow bloom until frost; and try to
- strategically plant small shrubs like Forever & Ever® Hydrangeas which bloom prolifically, or semi-woody ornamentals such as the small Buddleia or butterfly bushes that bloom into early autumn.
You may enjoy reading more about poppies and wildflower meadows in my previous articles:
- Poppies in Residential Gardens
- Poppies and Landscape Design
- Landscapes of Poppies
- Poppies and Landscapes of War
- Romantic or Realist - Establishing a Wildflower Lawn or Meadow
©Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage, July 26, 2006. Reproduction without permission prohibited
