Poppy Amazing Grey Seeds - Papaver rhoeas

Papaver rhoeas Amazing Grey is an extraordinary field poppy whose dainty, semi-double blooms come in a surprising range of grey shades. Pearly grey, slate blue, misty mauve, greyish white, smoky grey, sometimes tinged with a touch of dark pink at the base of the petals: a thousand shades of grey come together and blend randomly, composing a marvellous watercolour. Poppies are very undemanding plants that grow and self-seed with great ease in the sun. They can make do with a mediocre soil, even a heavy, calcareous and degraded one. This variety is absolutely breathtaking when combined with pink, mauve or purple roses!

The field poppy, also known as the common poppy, or simply poppy, is an annual plant of the family Papaveraceae that is native to Asia Minor. Papaver 'Amazing Grey' is a selection derived from this adorable “weed". The plants germinate in spring, flower in summer and then die after having produced seeds. In one season, they reach a height of 60 cm and a width of 30 cm when in full bloom. The slender stems are rough and sparsely branched. The leaves are arranged in alternating rows and are divided into narrow, toothed lobes. When the stem is broken, it exudes a white, milky sap. They flower in summer, from June to August, depending on the climate and the time of sowing. The flowers are shaped into open cups that present two to three rows of silky, slightly crumpled, finely veined petals in a beautiful, very refined range of grey tones. The centre bears numerous stamens with bluish-black anthers. The flowers give way to fruits in the form of capsules containing numerous seeds that the wind will scatter.

At ease in wild gardens, in cloister gardens and gardens without gardeners, poppies make it possible to quickly and effortlessly create oceans of flowers of poignant simplicity, harmonizing perfectly with the summer light. Although they are not very long-lasting in bouquets, poppy flowers are extremely charming in beds when combined with bearded irises, tall daisies, large peonies or the swaying leaves of grasses. This annual plant, like the cosmos and love-in-a-mist, has no equal when it comes to covering sunny embankments around new constructions and bright, open spaces between annuals or big, late flowering perennials such as daylilies whose blooms take over later in the season. If you still want to make bouquets with these flowers, the stems should be cauterized where they have been cut, to prevent the flowers from fading during the day.