Oriental Poppy

How to grow Oriental Poppy

Written by the GardenDecoded editorial team · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Written for UK gardens · How we research our guidance

Planting

Plant in autumn or spring in full sun with good drainage. Plan for the gap it leaves: the foliage dies away in midsummer and the plant disappears for weeks, so site it behind later perennials such as asters, hardy geraniums or grasses that will fill the space.

Pruning

Cut the whole plant down to the ground once flowering ends and the leaves start to yellow. Water and it will often produce a fresh low rosette of foliage for autumn.

Propagation

Root cuttings in late autumn or winter are the reliable method: lift a plant, cut pencil-thick root sections about 5 cm long, and insert them the right way up in gritty compost. Seed-raised plants vary and named forms will not come true.

Pests and diseases

Downy mildew can grey and distort the foliage in a wet spring. Otherwise few problems, though plants rot in heavy wet ground over winter.

Value to wildlife

The large bowl-shaped flowers produce abundant pollen and bumblebees work them hard for the short season they are open.

Notes

The stems are hollow and heavy in flower and often flop after rain, so support them early with hoops rather than trying to prop them afterwards. Any root fragment left after digging a plant out will regrow.

This guidance was researched and written by GardenDecoded — see our editorial policy for how guides are checked and reviewed.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Papaver orientale but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Others in Papaver