Oriental poppy
Papaver orientale · Papaveraceae Popular
Enormous, crepe-paper flowers in scarlet, orange, pink or white, usually with a black blotch at the base, in early summer. The bristly leaves die away completely by midsummer.
- 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
- Accent
A bed built around oriental poppy
The planner designed this bed around oriental poppy 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 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why oriental poppy stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Oriental poppy × 1, red
- 2 Winter heath × 8, pink
- 3 Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' × 5, red
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 8, tan
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
- 8 Grape hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, daisies, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is the step between winter heath (10 in) in front and false sunflower 'Summer Nights' (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late May to late June.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- 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: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Early colour comes from bulbs planted between the other plants: grape hyacinth. In winter there are still winter heath and little bluestem 'The Blues' to look at.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 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 tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
It leaves a hole in July, so plant something beside it that spreads out later: a large catmint, Russian sage or an aster. The leaves return in autumn. It dislikes hot, humid summers.
- A spectacular early-summer feature
- Cottage gardens
- Cool-summer climates
What to plant with oriental poppy
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Bearded iris: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks; happy in the same dry soil.
- Catmint 'Six Hills Giant': in flower together for five weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
- Russian sage: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid July; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about oriental poppy
Does oriental poppy need sun or shade?
Oriental poppy grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does oriental poppy 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 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 | Early June to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to late June |
| Zone 7 | Early 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 be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 2½ ft (80 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many oriental poppy plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is oriental poppy 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?
These come closest to doing what oriental poppy does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Carolina lupine: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; belongs at the back, not in the middle, 16 in taller.
- Red hot poker: the same job in a bed and the same colour; belongs at the back, not in the middle, 8 in taller.
- Meadow sage 'Caradonna': the same job in a bed; 8 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
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?
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?
Oriental poppy 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).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does oriental poppy look like in winter?
Oriental poppy has long gone by winter: it dies down in summer, soon after flowering, and comes back in spring.
Is oriental poppy good for bees and butterflies?
Oriental poppy is visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Papaver
- Iceland poppy Papaver nudicaule
- Oriental poppy 'Beauty of Livermere' Papaver orientale 'Beauty of Livermere'
- Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum'
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
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (80 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late May to late June; open bowls; red, orange, pink, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply 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.