Double Red and White Poppy from the Garden Gnome Mix #1
by J McCombie
Title
Double Red and White Poppy from the Garden Gnome Mix #1
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This dwarf poppy has two or three layers of wrinkled papery petals which are brilliant, pristine pure white and cheerful cool red with blue undertones. The petals begin with white at their base and fade into the stunning red. On most petals, it looks like the red has bled into the crisp white of a watercolour painting. Even on raining days, these poppies shine brightly. The seed pod or ovule is a pale green with even lighter green to pale yellow furry lines accenting it. The centre is surrounded by anthers dusted with golden yellow/orange pollen atop very delicate pale yellow filaments.
The Iceland poppy is an attractive, delicate, cool-season perennial produced by growers for spring programs. It has been largely underused in the past and is becoming increasingly popular in recent years. The Iceland poppy is a short-lived perennial in the North, but it is grown as an annual in the South because it does not tolerate the extreme summer heat of southern locations. Despite its seemingly fragile nature, many landscapers use Papaver nudicaule in fall plantings, which deliver spectacular displays of color during the early spring. Iceland poppies are relatively easy to produce and are commonly marketed alongside bedding plants.
Papaver nudicaule Garden Gnome Group = Gartenzwerg Group, is a popular cultivar of Iceland poppies that is widely grown in greenhouses for early sales. It produces dwarf, compact, low-growing rosettes of gray-green or blueish-green lobed foliage reaching 4-6 inches (15 cm) tall. It produces attractive 2-inch bowl-shaped papery flowers in the early spring atop strong, upright, 9- to 12-inch (30 cm) hairy stems above a neat mound and continues to bloom into the early summer. 'Garden Gnome' has great flower power: It produces masses of scented blooms of various colors such as orange, scarlet, yellow, salmon, rose, pink, cream and white as well as bi-colored varieties (each color is available individually). Although the most impressive display of color occurs in the early spring, it reblooms well into the summer in most locations. It tends to be short lived, but worth a place for its long and cheerful display. Ideal for the front of a sunny border or rock garden, in containers or patio pots in any well drained soil. Iceland poppies can also be used as cut flowers. This plant has an RHS Award of Garden Merit. It is also Bee and Butterfly Friendly.
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December 8th, 2016
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