'Bridal Silk' Poppy Seeds

Bridal Silk' Poppy is an award-winning hardy annual offering summer interest, with ornamental seed pods extending the season of interest. The long-lived plant sets delicate pure white flowers with silky petals and creamy yellow anthers. Borne singly on long, bristly stems, the showy saucer-shaped flowers attract birds and bees to the garden and make lovely cut flowers if stems are singed before being placed it in water.

'Bridal Silk' is a Papaver rhoeas cultivar, a beloved old-fashioned variety also known as the common poppy, corn poppy, field poppy, or Flanders poppy. The plant has a clumping, spreading habit of pinnately lobed, cut or toothed, hairy leaves. 'Bridal Silk' Poppy is shown to best effect when grouped or massed in borders or beds or sown in drifts in non-native naturalized areas.

Easily grown from seed and extremely low maintenance, 'Bridal Silk' Poppy prefers full sun and organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils. It is intolerant of drought and overly wet, poorly drained soils. Growing best in cool summer climates, it does not perform well in high heat and humidity and may require some light afternoon shade in hot summer climates. Deadheading spent flowers keeps the poppy blooming. The flowers freely self-seed in suitable conditions, naturalizing and returning from year to year, performing more like a perennial than an annual. Deer and rabbit resistant.

Direct sow poppy seeds in spring, or start seeds indoors and transplant after the threat of frost has passed. In warm climates, seeds can be sown in late fall for an early spring bloom.