The beautiful, tender Icelandic Poppy, which pleases us with its many, colourful, delicate blossoms in spring, might disappear from our gardens in the next decades. The biennial to perennial shrub indeed originates from Iceland and loves the subarctic climate. Iceland poppy, therefore, prefers meagre, rather sparse soils and a cool climate. Then, it also tolerates longer drought periods well.
If the plant likes its assigned location, it can establish itself well there and, absolutely, grow for several years. Often, it can, however, only be found in the garden short-termed. With a bit of luck, the shrub resows itself in other locations.
Other than with other poppy varieties, the blossom colour of a plant can change. There are all kinds of shades from white to yellow, orange, and pink in the most beautiful pastel shades. Several useful insects live off the blossoms' nectar. Icelandic poppy is, therefore, a very high-yielding bee plant as its heyday can range from May to August. If you cut the buds shortly before blossoming, Icelandic poppy is also well-suited as a cut flower for the vase.
Most biennial shrubs prefer a sunny but rather cool location in the garden. It's well suitable as a stone garden plant as it likes permeable, meagre soils and tolerates drought well.
Poppy should possibly be sown directly in place outdoors as it forms a long tap root that would be damaged when transplanting. We advise against preculture. The best sowing period is from mid-April to the end of June or also late in September/ October. Light germination: Only scatter the seeds on the soil, press them on gently, and, perhaps, slightly cover them with sand. Pay attention to regular moisture until germination.
Other names
| Botanical name: |
Papaver nudicaule |
| German names: |
Islandmohn |
| French names: |
Pavot D’islande, Pavot Nudicaule |
| English names: |
Icelandic Poppy, Arctic Poppy, Iceland Poppy |
| Spanish names: |
Amapola de Islandia |
| Italian names: |
Papavero D'islanda, Papavero Islandese, Amapola de Islandia |
| Dutch names: |
Ijslandse Papaver, Ijslandse Klaproos |
| Polish names: |
Mak Syberyjski |
| Swedish names: |
Sibirisk Vallmo |
