Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'
Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum' · Papaveraceae
Crumpled silk petals the colour of crushed mulberries, with a black blotch at the base of each. Found on a compost heap in Somerset.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to late June
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'
The planner designed this bed around oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' × 3, purple
- 2 Winter heath × 8, pink
- 3 Sea thrift × 9, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Caucasian scabious 'Fama' × 8, blue
- 7 Sicilian honey garlic × 3, cream
- 8 Red spider lily × 7, red
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, globes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only purple.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over caucasian scabious 'Fama' (24 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to caucasian scabious 'Fama' (24 in) and Sicilian honey garlic (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late May to late June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With sea thrift and Sicilian honey garlic in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Brown-eyed Susan and Sicilian honey garlic anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 51 to 49, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 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 oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A colour that no one expected from a poppy, and it fades to a dusty mauve in sun, so give it light shade at midday. Like all oriental poppies it vanishes in July.
- A rare colour for early summer
- Cottage borders
- Planting with late perennials that fill the gap
What to plant with oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Baby's breath 'Rosy Veil': low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Catmint 'Six Hills Giant': in flower together for four weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound.
- Russian sage: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid July; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'
Does oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' need sun or shade?
Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 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 oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early June to late June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 6 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid June |
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 oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 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 three in one group.
Is oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts contain alkaloids. Eating them can cause stomach upset and drowsiness.
Rated from NC State Extension. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'?
These come closest to doing what oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Mountain bluet: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 10 in shorter, blue, not purple.
- Autumn sage: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 in wider, flowers mid May to mid October.
- Bowman's root: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in taller, 4 in wider.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum'?
Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' is over by late June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Russian sage: from mid July to mid September, 4 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Baby's breath 'Rosy Veil': from late June to late August, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
What does oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' look like in winter?
Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' has long gone by winter: it dies down in summer, soon after flowering, and comes back in spring.
Is oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' good for bees and butterflies?
Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' is visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Papaver
- Iceland poppy Papaver nudicaule
- Oriental poppy Papaver orientale
- Oriental poppy 'Beauty of Livermere' Papaver orientale 'Beauty of Livermere'
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; open bowls; purple
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Comes from
- Central Asia
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.