Papaver orientale ‘Royal Chocolate Distinction’

Oriental Poppies provide a cheerful display of huge, satiny flowers in late spring and early summer. Plants form low mounds of coarse, hairy leaves, and usually go dormant, disappearing completely by late summer. This selection features amazing flowers of a rich maroon-chocolate shade, with a black center. Because they disappear in summer, place something beside Oriental Poppies that will get bushy later in the season, such as Rudbeckia, Russian Sage, or fall-flowering grasses. Divide in August or September. For cutting, pick flowers just as the buds begin to open. Bred by Eleanore de Koning of the Netherlands.