Poppy Oriental Fruit Punch

Oriental poppies are the most extravagant thing you can grow from seed. 'Fruit Punch' opens crumpled tissue-paper blooms up to fifteen centimetres across, in a range of coral, salmon, cherry and rose, each with a dark inky blotch at the base of every petal.

They are also the most short-lived spectacle in the garden. Two or three weeks of astonishing flower in early summer, then the whole plant collapses and dies back to nothing by midsummer. Plant something that fills out late — hardy geraniums, or an annual sown alongside — to cover the gap it leaves.

Give it deep, well-drained ground in full sun and then leave it entirely alone. Oriental poppies resent disturbance and improve every year they are left in place. For cutting, sear the stem ends in boiling water for twenty seconds or they will wilt within the hour.