Papaver somniferum Lauren's Grape - Opium Poppy seeds

Papaver somniferum 'Lauren's Grape' is an opium poppy with single flowers in shades of plum, purple, and ruby, speckled with very dark violet at the base of the petals and a nearly white centre. Its dark flower changes colour throughout the day and depending on the light. This variety blooms from late spring to summer, depending on the sowing date, on tall, sturdy stems emerging from abundant, wavy, finely cut, bluish-green foliage. Its seed-filled heads are decorative in dried bouquets. It is sown directly in open ground in spring or early autumn in mild regions. It will self-sow spontaneously in light, sunny soils.

The annual poppy 'Lauren's Grape' is a horticultural variety derived from Papaver somniferum, the sleep-inducing poppy or opium poppy. The latter is found in Asian mountains, as well as in Europe, on the limestone soils frequented by poppies. This plant, probably originating from regions between the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, has given rise to a multitude of varieties long-cultivated for ornamental purposes. Its life cycle is annual: the plant germinates, flowers, produces seeds, and dies in less than a year. All poppies belong to the Papaveraceae family.

'Lauren's Grape' has magnificent glaucous foliage, with wavy edges, composed of beautiful lobed and elliptical leaves showing a notched and finely cut border. From this 30 to 45 cm wide clump of foliage, remarkable solitary flowers emerge from June to August on tall stems, reaching an average of 1 m above the ground. Measuring 10 to 15 cm in diameter, they are bowl-shaped and composed of 4 large, pleated, silky petals. The flower's centre is very light when it blooms, then it changes colour over time. The flowering is attractive to pollinating insects and is followed by a characteristic, ornamental fruit filled with small black seeds which takes on slate blue highlights when dried, changing with the light, due to the crystallized wax film that protects it. Opium poppies have a taproot that does not tolerate transplantation well, which is why it is preferable to sow them in place. They are hardy annual plants, and early autumn sowings can withstand not too harsh winters. In this case, flowering is earlier in spring.

Opium poppies are at home in sophisticated or romantic gardens, cottage gardens and neglected gardens where they create quick and effortless infinitely delicate waves of flowers, moving in their vibrant, dark, or pastel colours, dancing on the foam of their foliage. Simply scatter the seeds on well-prepared soil among other plants, along borders or in flower beds. Though not very long-lasting when cut, 'Lauren's Grape' poppy flowers have a charming allure when planted en masse, with hybrid mulleins, amidst the swaying foliage of grasses, or even with landscape roses. This annual plant, like cosmos, has no equivalent for filling in empty spaces between annuals or late-flowering perennials such as giant asters that take over in full sun.

Once the flowering is exhausted, there are still the seed heads, valuable for dried bouquets. In slightly wild areas, it forms a somewhat enigmatic vestige of summer.