Alpine Poppy

Other Names: Papaver alpinum

Description:

Small clump-forming self-seeding plants that offer a display of color from creamy-white to yellow and thorugh the hot oranges with small silver dollar sized flowers, exquisite in a rock garden

Ornamental Features:

Alpine Poppy features dainty orange round flowers with yellow eyes at the ends of the stems from early spring to early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It's attractive deeply cut ferny leaves remain grayish green in colour throughout the season. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.

Landscape Attributes:

Alpine Poppy is an open herbaceous perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This perennial will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Alpine Poppy is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• General Garden Use
• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens

Plant Characteristics:

Alpine Poppy will grow to be only 4 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 8 inches. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This perennial does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. This plant can be propagated by seed.

This is a selection of a native North American species.