Corn Poppy
Falling in Love Poppy is a Shirley/Flanders type annual that lives up to its romantic name with semi-double to fully double blooms in jewel-toned coral, salmon, rose, and cerise with picotee edging. This heirloom variety earned its place as a gardener's favorite by flowering earliest in spring and continuing to bloom prolifically throughout the season. Growing 36 to 42 inches tall and reaching maturity in 80 to 90 days, these nodding silken flowers sway gently in the breeze, attracting pollinators while enchanting everyone who passes by. Direct sow in spring as soon as ground can be worked, and you'll have armfuls of cut flowers by early summer.
Full Sun
High
2-10
42in H x ?in W
Annual
Moderate
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What sets Falling in Love Poppy apart is its exceptional earliness, it flowers before other poppies and just keeps producing. The blooms themselves are stunning: semi-double to fully double petals with luminous coral, salmon, rose, and cerise tones edged in picotee, creating a depth and complexity that single-flowered poppies lack. The nodding form and silken texture make them irresistible both in the garden and as cut flowers. This is a poppy that genuinely deserves its name.
Falling in Love Poppy is grown primarily for its ornamental blooms, which make exceptional cut flowers. Harvest them in the morning just as buds begin to open, and they'll continue to unfurl beautifully in the vase. The flowers are equally stunning left in the garden, where their nodding habit and graceful movement create dynamic visual interest in borders and informal plantings. Many gardeners allow spent flowers to mature and self-sow, creating drifts of poppies that return year after year.
Sow seeds directly into a finely textured garden bed in full sun as early in spring as the ground can be worked. To help with spacing these small seeds, mix them with dry sand before sowing. Cover very lightly with fine soil and keep the seed bed consistently moist as seedlings emerge, which typically takes 10 to 21 days. In mild winter climates, you can also sow seed in late fall to establish strong root systems and overwinter for the earliest possible spring bloom.
Cut flowers for arrangements in the morning when blooms are at their freshest and petals are just beginning to open. Use a clean knife dipped in a 10% household bleach solution to make clean cuts and help the flowers last longer. Place cut poppies immediately in a vase with water, adding a few drops of bleach to prolong their beauty. The nodding blooms will continue to open gracefully in the vase over several days.
Deadhead spent flowers regularly to encourage continuous blooming throughout the season. Use a clean knife to remove faded blooms, which will extend your flowering window significantly. Allow some flowers to mature and form seed pods if you want the poppies to self-sow for next season.
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“Falling in Love Poppy belongs to the Shirley/Flanders lineage of Papaver rhoeas, one of the most celebrated poppy strains in garden history. The Shirley poppies, developed in the late 19th century by selecting for semi-double and double forms from the wild corn poppy, represent generations of thoughtful selection. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds specifically selected this cultivar as their new favorite for its remarkable earliness and abundance of blooms, recognizing in it the qualities that have made poppies treasured garden flowers since ancient times.”