Due to its special beauty, California poppies have won recognition among flora lovers in the world. This flower will decorate any area with its presence. Skillfully combining it with other plants, landscape designers successfully use its advantage in the design of flower beds and parks. An interesting factor in this is that the poppy does not require any complicated care. And this makes it even more attractive for flower growers, in addition, it blooms for quite a long time: from mid-summer to mid-autumn.
general description
California poppy is a flower used for an aesthetic purpose to decorate a territory. Having a small growth (about forty centimeters), it belongs to
the poppy family. From a botanical point of view, a plant can be given the following characteristic:
- leaflets have a fairly deep dissection;
- buds may be orange or red;
- deep roots, characterized by a core system.
Poppy prefers bright sunny places, while the land loves fertile land with a minimum of sand. Back in the 18th century, these flowers were described on the Pacific coast in American California. But for a long time no one could understand how a flower propagates. And only later botanists were able to grow poppies in their own Europe with the help of seeds. Esholtsia flower, or California poppy, got its name thanks to the name of the zoologist, who was a friend of the famous botanist.
Care Rules
First of all, it is worth mentioning once again the unpretentious nature of the plant. After all, poppies can grow in the shade, well tolerate periods of drought. At the same time, California poppies negatively relate to water stagnation, which leads to root decay. The root must not be allowed to block from air intake. After watering and drying, it is necessary to fluff up the soil so that air can freely enter and enrich the root system of the plant.
If you choose the right soil for the plant, then it will grow for many years in the same place. California poppies can grow in different soil, even sandy, but react negatively to moist soil, acidic environment and freshly fertilized soil. It is not recommended to transplant the flower, since the highly developed root system does not allow the plant to be painlessly removed from the ground.
As for watering, it is important to water the poppy only in the evening. Having decided to feed the plant, choose a mineral complex and do this before it begins to bloom. After the poppies have bloomed, you need to take care of pruning and thinning the bushes, as this will improve the quality of flowering next year.
Growing method
As already mentioned, California poppy, the cultivation of which we describe, propagates only by seed. What needs to be done for the success of the procedure?
- After the flowering period, you need to collect the boxes with seeds that are on each plant. If you are late, then the boxes will fall and the seeds will fall into the ground.
- Seeds can be planted for three years, while the quality of seedlings does not fall at all.
- Due to the specifics of the root system, seeds need to be planted immediately in open ground or in special peat pots, which are then transferred to the ground.
- You need to plant a flower in early spring, after planting, you need to monitor the watering and loosening of the soil so that the sprouts can germinate freely.
- Already after half a month you will see the first sprouts. After they get about five leaves, the flowers need to be broken through, leaving about twenty centimeters between the seedlings.
As you can see, there are no difficulties in landing. In addition, you will only need to feed the poppy before it begins to bloom.
Plant species
I want to note that in the world there are more than one hundred varieties of eschscholzia. But the most popular are three types of poppy:
- Lobba is a miniature plant with yellowish buds.
- Soddy - awl-shaped leaves cover a flower with yellow buds, while all of them are combined into rosettes.
- Californian - creeping flower with an average height of thirty centimeters. The color of the petals is yellow, and red, and purple, and pink. It depends on the variety.
Eshsholtsiya (California poppy): varieties
This type of poppy has its own varieties, which differ in different colors of buds. Mostly flower growers use them all, since their combination gives a stunningly beautiful result.
- Golden Orange - orange flowers;
- Ballerina - light pink;
- Golden Gluory - rich yellow color;
- Milky White - a delicate cream shade;
- Red Chief - red flowers;
- Firefly - purple;
- Apricot Chiffon - Turquoise.
All these flowers are attractive enough to become favorites of landscape designers.
California poppies in design
Most often, poppies are used to decorate borders and flower beds. A combination of this plant and cornflowers, godetsia, lavender, ageratum and other flowers is considered successful. They not only complement, but also highlight the beauty of poppy. A flower is also used to design an easy-care garden. Due to its unpretentious nature, this plant has increasingly been used for decoration of both private homes and public areas. No less attractive is the use of the same type of poppy, but of a different variety with a variety of shades of buds. It is important to note that even a beginner grower can easily cope with the cultivation of this plant and at the same time boast the beauty of its own garden.
Possible problems
California poppy, care for which does not require special attention, still needs elementary procedures. After all, like any plant, it can become a victim of a disease or pest attack. Most often, the flower suffers from rotting stems. This begins due to waterlogging of the soil. The reason may be improper landing, incorrect watering or too frequent rains. The treatment in this case is to eliminate the causes of too much water in the soil where poppy grows. In addition to the appearance of the fungus, the defeat of powdery mildew is also possible. You will immediately see the signs of this disease by the appearance of a white coating on the leaves. Coping with the problem will help modern drugs.
If we talk about pests, then the poppy can be attacked by aphids or spider mites. In this case, the flowers need to be treated with the appropriate drug, which is sold in any flower shop, depending on the problem. In this case, it is necessary to carefully remove the already affected leaves and flowers, so as not to provoke the spread. So that such problems rarely arise and end quickly, it is necessary to periodically inspect the flowers to identify early signs of the disease. Experts also recommend fluffing up soil and breaking through weed grass in poppy growing areas.