Sometimes known as the Garden Gnome Group, this dwarf strain produces flowers in a range of reds, pinks, yellows, oranges and white. A short-lived perennial, almost always grown as an annual for use as a cut-flower. 30cm. AGM. RHS H7, USDA 6a.

Cultivation
• The annual poppies are among the easiest plants to raise from seed. Most do not like the disturbance caused by transplanting so are best sown in the spring in the place where you want them to flower.
• Overcrowding will produce weedy plants so sow seed thinly and be ruthless in removing seedlings to ensure the plants you are left with have the space to flourish.
• Annual poppies prefer an open, sunny aspect in well-drained, relatively poor soil but will adapt to any soil that is not waterlogged. They will not grow well in deep shade. All produce copious amounts of seed and most will self-seed, although it is a bit of a lottery what colour the flowers of named cultivars of Papaver somniferum and of Papaver rhoeas will be.
• The perennial species tend to be more demanding than the annual ones and although in the wild Papaver orientale grows in poor, rocky soil or in meadows with thin soil, to perform well in the garden the plant needs rich, well-drained soil. Too much moisture and the crown of the plant will rot; too poor a soil and it will not flower.
• After flowering you are left with tatty foliage. The renowned designer Gertrude Jekyll advised hiding it with a scrambling plant, such as Lathyrus latifolius, but Papaver orientale can be cut down to the ground, which will encourage fresh, healthy looking leaves as well as the occasional second flowering.