Poppies often form large clumps of showy, sometimes flamboyant flowers atop bristly-hairy foliage. They have been bred extensively
over the years resulting in larger, sometimes double flowers, in a wide range of colors.
Blooming in late spring to early summer with solitary, goblet shaped 4-6 inch tissue paper-crumpled flowers. Their numerous stamens
form a conspicuous central boss, which surrounds a seed capsule decorated with a wheel-like pattern.
Their large robust clumps of coarse, hairy 10-12 inch basal leaves are pinnately dissected, with oblong toothed or lobed segments.
When their stems are cut, they will exude a milky sap.
If you inter-plant them with other leafy, later-blooming perennials such as Gypsophila or Limonium, when their foliage dies down in midsummer,
you won't be left with big gaps in your beds or borders.
