California poppies: description, features of cultivation and care

Thanks to its special beauty, Californian poppies have won recognition among flora fans in the world. This flower will decorate any site with its presence. Cleverly combining it with other plants, landscape designers successfully use its advantage when decorating flower beds and parks. An interesting factor in this is that no complex care does not require poppy. And this makes it even more attractive for florists, besides it blossoms quite a long time: from mid-summer to mid-autumn.

general description

California poppy is a flower used for aesthetic purposes to decorate the territory. Having a small growth (about forty centimeters), it belongs to the family of poppies. From the botanical point of view, the plant can be given such a characteristic:

• The leaves have a rather deep dissection;
• Buds can be orange or red;
• Roots are deep, characterized by a rod system.

Mack prefers bright sunny places, while the earth loves the fertile with a minimum of sand. As early as the 18th century, these flowers were described on the Pacific coast in American California. But for a long time no one could understand how the flower multiplies. And only later botanists were able to grow poppies in Europe using seeds. The flower eshlet, or poppy-poppy, derives its name from the name of the zoologist, who was a friend of the famous botanist.

Care instructions

First of all, it is worthwhile to mention once again the unpretentious character of the plant. After all, poppies can grow in the shade, well tolerated periods of drought. In this case, California poppies negatively relate to stagnation of water, which leads to decay of the root. You can not prevent the root from blocking the air intake. After watering and drying, it is necessary to swell the soil so that the air can freely enter and enrich the root system of the plant.

If you choose the right land for the plant, it will grow for many years in the same place. California poppies can grow in different soil, even sandy, but they react negatively to wet soil, acidic environment and freshly fertilized soil. Transplant the flower is not recommended, since a highly developed root system does not allow the plant to be taken out of the ground without pain.

As for watering, it is important to water poppy only in the evening. Thinking of feeding a plant, choose a mineral complex and do it before it starts to bloom. After the poppies have faded, you need to take care of pruning and thinning bushes, as this will improve the flowering quality for the next year.

Method of cultivation

As already mentioned, California poppy, the cultivation of which we describe, multiplies only by seed. What should be done for the success of the procedure?

1. After the flowering period, you need to collect the boxes with the seeds that are on each plant. If they are late, the boxes will fall and the seeds will fall to the ground.
2. Seeds can be planted for three years, while the quality of seedlings does not fall at all.
3. Because of the specific nature of the root system, it is necessary to plant seeds immediately in open ground or in special pots of peat, which are then transferred to the ground.
4. To plant a flower is necessary in the beginning of spring, after planting it is necessary to watch the watering and loosening of the soil so that the sprouts can freely germinate.
5. In half a month you will see the first shoots. After they acquire about five leaves, flowers need to be broken, leaving about twenty centimeters between the seedlings.

As you can see, there are no difficulties in planting. In addition, you will only need to feed the poppy before it starts to bloom.

Species of the plant

It should be noted that in the world there are more than one hundred varieties of eshsol'tsii. But the most popular are three types of poppy:

• Lobba - a miniature plant with buds of a yellowish hue.
• The soddy - awl-shaped leaves cover the flower with yellow buds, and all of them are united in rosettes.
• California - creeping flower with an average height of thirty centimeters. The color of the petals can be yellow, red, purple, and pink. It depends on the variety.

Eschsolcia (Californian poppy): varieties

This type of poppy has its own varieties, which differ in different colors of buds. In general, flower growers use them all, as their combination gives a stunningly beautiful result.

• Golden Orange - orange flowers;
• The ballerina is light pink;
• Golden Gluori - a rich yellow color;
• Milky White is a delicate cream shade;
• Red Chif - red flowers;
• Firefly - purple;
• Chiphon Apricot - turquoise.

All these flowers are attractive enough to become the darlings of landscape designers.

California Poppies in Design

Most poppy is used for decorating curbs and flower beds. A combination of this plant and cornflowers, godemia, lavender, ageratum and other flowers is considered successful. They not only complement, but also favorably distinguish the beauty of the poppy. Also, a flower is used to decorate the garden of easy care. Thanks to its unpretentious nature, this plant is increasingly used for decoration of both private houses and public plots. No less attractive is the use of the same kind of poppy, but different grades with a variety of shades of buds. It is important to note that even an aspiring floriculturist can easily cope with the growing of this plant and at the same time boast of the beauty of his own garden.

Possible problems

The California poppy, whose care does not require special attention, still needs basic procedures. After all, like any plant, it can become a victim of disease or pest attack. Most often the flower suffers from decay of the stem. This begins because of the waterlogging of the soil. The reason may be incorrect landing, incorrect watering or too frequent rains. The treatment is to eliminate the causes of too much water in the soil where the poppy grows. In addition to the appearance of the fungus, it is possible to defeat powdery mildew. You will immediately see the signs of this disease by the appearance of a white coating on the leaves. To cope with the problem will help modern drugs.

If we talk about pests, poppy can be attacked by aphids or spider mite. In this case, the flowers need to be treated with a suitable preparation, which is sold in any flower shop, depending on the problem that has arisen. In this case, it is necessary to carefully remove the already affected leaves and flowers, so as not to provoke spreading. In order for such problems to arise rarely and end quickly, it is necessary to periodically inspect flowers to identify early signs of the disease. Also, experts recommend ripening the soil and breaking through the weeds in areas where poppy grows.