PlantFiles: Flanders Poppy
Papaver commutatum 'Ladybird'

I planted a "wildflower seed mix" one year, and this poppy came up in that spot in my garden the following year. I believe that, like many poppies, the seeds need to overwinter in order to germinate, which is why they did not grow the season I planted the mix. The one plant grew into a huge, gorgeous poppy plant with dozens of blooms over a period of several weeks. The single plant was probably about 2 feet high and wide and quite bushy and profusely blooming with attractive foliage. The blooms only last a day but new ones follow in rapid succession. The buds are lovely, fuzzy, drooping pods prior to bursting open to reveal the slowly unfolding, tissue-paper-like blooms. It is fascinating to catch a bloom just after it emerges from the pod, you can actually watch as the flower slowly unfolds like a butterfly spreading its wings after emerging from a cocoon. Once the bloom is spent and petals fall off, the seed heads are a colorful, striped, fascinating feature of the plant in their own right. Easy to collect seeds, self-seeds.

Kids love these little poppies. Water from below because they will turn to mush if the leaves stay wet for too long. Becareful when thinning them out, they don't like the dirt disturbed around their roots. My original seeds came from SSE, but it's easy and fun to save your own.

SSE offers this one.

I've just purchased mine, I can't wait to see the flowers, so far it's looking good! I love bright flowers that are showy.

This poppy sends up 2 dozen or more lovely little flowers that look just like ladybugs. Kids love them! From a 4" pot will start to flower within a month and keep going for about 3-4 weeks. Each bloom will only last a couple of days, but more are always coming up. An exceptional annual.