Poppy - Flanders

OH. Native to North Africa, Europe and Asia, this poppy has been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. Also known by the names, common poppy, corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, and red poppy. The names “Corn” or “Field” came about as this plant readily self-sows and thrives in areas of disturbed soil, it was often abundant in agricultural fields before the advent of herbicides as it does not seem to die by most traditional weeding equipment and would mature before the grain crops were harvested ensuring more poppies for the years to come. The name “Flanders” came about during WWI when Canadian soldier John McCrae wrote his now famous poem, In Flanders Fields. The war-scarred fields of Belgium blossomed with these poppies which he gazed upon while drafting the poem. This poppy has since gone on to represent Remembrance Day and Anzac Day for soldiers lost since WWI. A stunning annual with red flowers that are short lived growing to 70cms in height. Each plant in a good season can produce as many as 400 flowers which surely makes up for how short each flower lasts. Mostly grown for ornamental purposes, the seeds are edible, although usually other varieties are preferred for this purpose. The petals are used as a dye mainly in wine production, and dried petals can be added to colour potpourris.

Sow in early Spring or Autumn into trays and prick out to 4cm diagonal spacing when true leaves appear. Transplant to 20cm diagonal spacing into fertile soil. Otherwise direct scatter sow into strips at end of rows or borders.

100 seeds.