Papaver commutatum

‘Ladybird’

LADYBIRD POPPIES

Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’
LADYBIRD POPPIES

Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ is a delightful and super easy to grow Poppy.

Like a swarm of shiny red and black Ladybirds 

Ladybird Poppies are joyous – with shiny rich red petals, marked in the centre with a bold black spot.
The petals are silken in texture and flutter fetchingly in even the slightest breeze.

Garden highlight for late spring & early summer

Just when the flush of spring blooms is ending, these delightful little Poppies take over and steal the show.

Prolific bloomer with many Poppies per plant

Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ cannot be beaten for flower production – each plant will pop out a flock of up to 20 blooms.
With the flock eventually turning to decorative seed pods, which happily extend the season of interest.

Great for succession planting among spring bulbs and early bloomers

Ladybird Poppies are perfect for scattering amongst spring bulbs and early blooming perennials or annuals.
Just as the bulb foliage is going off and dying down, or the spring blooming flowers are becoming dull – this is the very time when the Ladybird Poppies strut their stuff.
The Poppy plants are also very light and airy, with an abundance of flowers at the top and fine foliage.
So they steal the show and distract the eye, without overpowering their earlier flowering companions, or the later flowering companions coming up between them.
Perfect for succession planting.

Exquisite cut flower

Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ gives stunning cut flowers that shine in a vase or bouquet.

For maximum vase life

To give the cut blooms their maximum vase life :~
1. First harvest the blooms when the buds are just splitting.
2. Then immediately sear the ends of the stems with a match or in boiling water for a few seconds.
Flowers are exquisite in bouquets and bridal arrangements, even though they have a relatively short vase life of 5-7 days – but what a few days.

Can’t kill Ladybird Poppies with an axe

But despite all the trendy good looks – this really is a tough, old fashioned “cant kill it with an axe” sort of a plant.
Such a very tough, reliable, self-seeding Poppy.
As hardy and easy to grow in the garden, and quick to raise from seed, as it’s more common plain cousins.

Reliably self sows each year

So once you have some garden plants to start with, they will just continue to self-sow each year.

Quick & easy from seed

And it is very quick & easy from seed, both sown indoors in small pots, or scattered directly in the garden.
From sowing the seed to enjoying flowers is only about 9-12 weeks.

Quick & easy to grow in the garden

Grow Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ in Full Sun.
Where they will prove themselves to be very water-wise and drought resistant old friends.

Very low maintenance

Ladybird Poppies are quite happy to look after themselves.
And come back to delight you every year without help.

Rabbit & deer resistant

Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ is distasteful to both rabbits and deer, so they are very unlikely to nibble.

Hardy self-sowing annual

45cm High silken flowers x 20cm Wide mound of feathery foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY

Sow seeds of Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ at any time
in small pots indoors, whenever suitable temperatures can be provided (16-24°C).
OR
Scatter directly in the garden in autumn or spring.

Sowing indoors for quick & early plants: First sow the seed thinly onto the surface of good quality seed raising mix in a series of small pots.
Then press the seeds gently into the surface of the mix.
And only sprinkle very sparingly with sieved mix or vermiculate.
These seeds need loght to germinate, and should not be buried or covered heavily.

Sowing Tip 1 for Poppies

It is best to sow Poppy seed as a tiny pinch in a series of small pots, and then transplant each pot full of plants into the garden, when ready, without pricking them out.
As Papaver commutatum plants quickly grow a long tap root and dislike being disturbed after germination.
So by sowing a tiny pinch directly into a small pot, you can transplant your germinated poppies into the garden by the pot full, with minimal root disturbance.
And avoid the work of pricking them out too.
Jiffy pots also work extremely well, as you can just plant the whole jiffy pot without disturbing the plants at all

Sowing Tip 2 for Poppies

Poppy seeds are very fine. So pop a pinch or two of fine sieved seed raising mix into the seed bag first, shake well, and then sow the entire contents of the bag.
This will ensure you can sow the seeds thinly and more evenly for better germination.

Now stand the sown pots in a shallow water bath and allow the water to percolate up to the surface of the mix from below.

Then place the pots in a warm, well-lit position (Not in any direct sunlight).
You can use a heat mat if you have one – they relish heat.
But Papaver commutatum are very forgiving and easy seeds to germinate – so it is not essential to have a heat mat.

Temperatures of 16-24°C are optimum for rapid and thorough germination.

Continue to keep consistently moist by misting from a spray water bottle.

Quick from seed to flower

The seed germinates in 7-21 days approx.

Seed Count: 1000 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count, and give a generous serve).

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