PlantFiles: Iceland poppy, Arctic Poppy
Papaver nudicaule

Icelandic poppies wintersowed very well for me last year. I have had a few blossoms already this year. I also find that unlike annual poppies whose flowers each last only a day, the Icelandic blooms last nearly a week before fading. They have many flower buds now.

Karen

Planted a couple of six-packs of these in late January and a few of them are still blooming in 90 degree weather in the beginning of July. They love well drained soil and frequent deadheading to encourage new blooms. A few scales or aphids can attack, but if planted next to more tender foliage such as Toadflax, most pests will avoid the poppies. An absolute joy to see these gorgeous and delicate flowers nodding in the breeze!

This plant can survive cold winters but it requires a moist climate as well. Our 1st attempt with this plant failed due to excessively dry summer heat with low hunmidity. IT is not well adapted to summer in the desert. This region is desert naturally and only the irrigation districts prevent my area from being cactus and sage and cheat grass. The Asiatic Poppies are far better suited to the arid and hot weather we endure.

I've found Iceland poppies to be variably perennial in my area. I had one plant that lasted for years, much to the delight of my addicted cat, who would nibble the seed pods every year. Other plants have failed to make it through the summer, however. I use Iceland poppies as cool-weather spring annuals now, in combination with pansies, ranunculus and Anemone coronaria.

Live in Buffalo NY and have had tremendous success with this plant. I purchased some plants already started at a nursery. Replanted in relatively poor soil and they have come back to life every spring after many harsh winters. Lots of flowers throughout the summer.

From a packaged "wildflower mix" that was almost 2 years old, I suddenly have a plethora of iceland poppies! Until they bloomed, I had no idea what they were, having never seen them until that time. What a pleasant surprise!

It isn't cold here, but the fog hangs like a curtain shutting out the sun. So nice to have the Poppy, to add that sunshine to our otherwise dark dreary day. A wonderful color source for winter. Keeps blooming through spring.

Iceland Poppies do very well in our Alaskan climate. They are a short-lived perennial, but self-seed readily, popping up in the driveway gravel, as well as the garden.

I added a pile of compost/manure to a part shady bed this spring and tilled it real deep. It was planted with larkspur and a few perennials just for this summer, and dotted every here and there are Icelandic poppies that reseeded themselves 2 or 3 years ago. I don't know where they were hiding, but it sure is nice to have them back.

This is a hardy plant that blooms almost continuously. It does well in dry sandy soil, ot a combination soil. It provides a bright colour spot anywhere in a garden, but will have a tendency to stunt in direct sunlight. Prefers partial shade.

Icelandic poppies have gray-green, fuzzy foliage and form a basal rosette that stays close to the ground. The slender 18-inch stems rise above the foliage to support delicate 3-inch blooms of white, yellow, orange, apricot, and gold. A perennial poppy hardy from zones 2-8, individual plants are short-lived but they will self sow if you allow some seed pods to mature. They like full sun or part shade in the south and well-drained soil.