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James H. Schutte
Papaveraceae
PAPAVER orientale 'Beauty of Livermere'
Beauty of Livermere Oriental Poppy, Oriental Poppy
Flaunting large crimson-scarlet blooms on some of the tallest stems in the oriental poppy tribe, 'Beauty of Livermere' is among the most venerable and popular of the many cultivars that go under the name Papaver orientale (although many are actually hybrids with another West Asian poppy, P. bracteatum). The brilliant blooms of this spectacular herbaceous perennial are one of the highlights of the late spring and early summer garden. It is often grown from seed, resulting in some variation.
Remarkable not only for their size and hue but also for their crinkled tissue-like texture, the glorious bowl-shaped flowers open from fat globular buds atop prickly stems. The petals have a black-purple basal blotch and center on a large knob-like ovary crowned by a scalloped black-purple stigmatic disk. The fruit is a capsule comprising the ovary and disk. The bristly, green, deeply dissected leaves form neat rosettes that hug the ground. The foliage dies back in early summer, re-emerging in fall.
Give oriental poppies full sun or light shade and well-drained average soil. Stake the stems if they flop. Divide during their summer dormancy, or in early spring. In the landscape these old-fashioned perennials look super in just about any sunny border, particularly in cottage and heirloom gardens. Surround them with late-blooming or robust perennials that can cover the visual and spatial gap their summer dormancy creates. They are also beautiful in bouquets, provided they are cut early in bloom and the cut ends are boiled or seared.
9 - 1
3 - 9
A1, A2, A3, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Perennial
Full Sun, Partial Sun
40"-48" / 101.6cm - 121.9cm
24"-36" / 61.0cm - 91.4cm
Late Spring, Early Summer
Western Asia
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Well Drained
Loam
Medium
Average Water
Upright/Erect
Spring, Summer
Showy
Red, Crimson
Bicolor
Green, Tan
Green, Gray Green, Dark Green
Green, Gray Green
No
Single
Matte
Mixed Border
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