Celandine poppy
Stylophorum diphyllum · Papaveraceae
Bright yellow, four-petalled poppies above lobed, blue-green leaves in spring, flowering on and off into summer in moist shade.
- Size
- 16 in tall, 14 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Mid April to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around celandine poppy
The planner designed this bed around celandine poppy when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why celandine poppy stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Celandine poppy × 8, yellow
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 5, tan
- 3 Lungwort × 3, blue
- 4 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 5 Tall astilbe 'Superba' × 3, purple
- 6 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Snowdrop × 12, white
- 8 Spring snowflake × 3, white
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are spires, dense clusters, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only yellow. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
Why here
- In the middle. At 16 in it is the step between moor grass 'Greenlee' (12 in) in front and inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 8 plants in 2 groups (5 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From mid April to late May.
- In company. With lungwort in mid April: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as a cottage garden: 25 of the 25 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. When the flowers are over, moor grass 'Greenlee' and inkberry 'Gem Box' keep the bed from looking bare. Cool colours (blue, pink and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and tan and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where celandine poppy goes in a border
At 16 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The classic partner for Virginia bluebells: yellow and blue together light up a spring wood. It seeds about in moist shade, which is usually welcome.
- Yellow in the spring woodland
- Native shade gardens
- Naturalising under trees
What to plant with celandine poppy
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Virginia bluebells: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks; happy in the same moist soil.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- Wild ginger: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about celandine poppy
Does celandine poppy need sun or shade?
Celandine poppy grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does celandine poppy grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does celandine poppy flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late April to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 7 | Early April to mid May |
| Zone 8 | Late March to early May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should celandine poppy be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 14 in (35 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 16 in (40 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many celandine poppy plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is celandine poppy poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat celandine poppy?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will celandine poppy spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Self-seeds freely. Remove the spent flowers to limit seedlings.
What flowers after celandine poppy?
Celandine poppy is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': from early June to early October, 18 in tall.
What does celandine poppy look like in winter?
Celandine poppy dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is celandine poppy good for bees and butterflies?
Celandine poppy is visited by pollinators and bees.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
- Plants for deep shade
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for bees
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 16 in (40 cm) tall, 14 in (35 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid April to late May; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; blue-green
- Shape
- Mounding, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Comes from
- South Ontario to North Central & Eastern Central U.S.A
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees
- Stands up to
- Wet soil, deep shade
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.