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Jesse Saylor
Papaveraceae
PAPAVER rhoeas 'American Legion'
American Legion Field Poppy, Corn Poppy, Field Poppy
This entry has yet to be reviewed and approved by L2G editors.
More than willing to sprout up across the landscape, American Legion field poppy boasts vibrant scarlet, papery-petaled blossoms across the warmth of summer. A clumping annual with tall, branching stems, it is native across Eurasia and extreme northern Africa. It is the floral emblem of the American veteran's association "The American Legion". Field poppy made famous by the poetic World World I line, "In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow, among the crosses row on row." It is the traditional lapel decale worn on American Veteran's Day, November 11, although artificial poppies are often worn instead since real poppies would have already succumbed to killing frost by mid-fall.
Leaves are downy and light green. They are oblong to cut deeply, almost-feathery. Across the summertime, the downy branching and upright stems bear four-petaled flowers that are a glowing red with black or yellow-white in their core around blackened pollen anthers. Bees and butterflies pollinate the blooms, and results in a stripe-capped seedpod that splits open to release scores of tiny seeds that will germinate nearby that autumn or early the following spring.
Grow the 'American Legion' in full sun in any fertile soil that is moist but has good drainage. Mix seeds with sand to assist in the scattering of seeds across the garden bed where they are to grow. To prolong flowering on a plant, promptly remove old flowers, which also lessens the amount of seeds later shed to the ground. For use as cutflowers, snip the stems when the buds are full in color yet still closed. In regions with hot intense or dry summers (such as interior low deserts), sow this poppy in early fall and allow it to grow across the mild winter.
12 - 1
A1, A2, A3, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Annual
Full Sun, Partial Sun
1'-3' / 0.3m - 0.9m
8"-12" / 20.3cm - 30.5cm
Early Summer, Summer
Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Well Drained
Loam, Sand
Drought
Very Fast
Average Water
Upright/Erect
Summer
Showy
Red, Ivory, Black
Bicolor
Sandy Brown, Chocolate
Striped/Striated
Light Green, Gray Green
No
Single
Yes
Medium
Matte
Bedding Plant, Cutflower, Mixed Border, Wildflower
Butterflies
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