Boring but Important - Poppies

Wild poppies are one of the great joys of early summer. It would make weeding so much easier if I didn't like them so much but I think it is such a gift when they splash vivid colour over the garden and the olive groves that it must be worth the effort to preserve the little seedlings.
The tradditional red annuals Papaver rhoeas are very easy to get but the perennial Papaver orientalis also do well here and come in many subtle shades. Iceland poppies are also supposed to be OK but I have not yet managed to get the seed to take. Californian poppies are in fact Eschscholzia californica rather than Papaver but they grow so well here (see the display at Venzano) that we can forgive them their mis-naming.
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