Colibri Icelandic Poppies

Papaver nudicaule | annual | bred by Italian Ranunculus

Italian Poppies blooming in March. Photo by Allie Case.

Let’s talk Italian (Icelandic but bigger) poppies. These are the Hummingbird series bred by Biancheri / Italian Ranunculus in Italy for their huge blooms, long strong stems and gorgeous colors. I took a gamble buying these plugs from Farmer Bailey this year and chose to keep them in my own backyard so that I could study and hopefully master this finicky bloom. Here’s what I found!

  • When I harvested in “cracked bud” stage, seared the ends in boiling water, and then kept in 2-3 inches of cool water I was able to get a solid 5 day vase life.

  • I wouldn’t recommend them for outdoor wedding work as they’re so fragile and they didn’t like direct sunlight post harvest.

  • I planted these in part shade in early December with first bloom opening in late March. I think early November would’ve been perfect if I’d been able to get the plugs sooner!

  • The plants that received LESS water seem bigger and happier.

  • This peachy color was my personal favorite - from left to right shows each “day” stage of the poppy’s life, with day five losing petals on the far right. Stem length got longer and stronger about one month from first bloom.

  • Poppies are still blooming now, curious to see when they’ll wimp out. Probably with this weekend’s 90 degree temps?

    Though I mostly grew these for my own enjoyment and to use in arrangement orders here and there, I really loved having these guys to look at and study this spring. The last curiosity I have…will they reseed? 🙏🏻🤞

icelandic poppy icelandic poppies
icelandic poppy icelandic poppies
Previous
Previous

Calendula

Next
Next

Larkspur