Poppy Companion Planting with Vegetables

Notes

Georgia O’Keefee painted some brilliant portraits of red Poppies some times upto 3 feet wide and high, even bigger than the real thing in my garden.The last photo shows how Red and Green work well together on a canvas or in a garden setting. Oriental poppies are perennial and most Poppy species are easy to grow from seed of which 50 varieties are available from Thompson & Morgan

The Poppy Appeal supporting the British Legion

Slugs and Snails

Greenery is all very well but I like to see swathes of colourful flowers. I try to envisage how mixed planting will shape up in terms of colour but generally my minds eye falls short when it comes to the imagination department. The best tip is to keep it simple with only a very limited number of varieties chosen because they are due to flower around the same time.

Ulex europaeus better known as Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a very prickly shrub of the pea family. Western gorse Ulex gallii is frequent in the western side of Britain and is relatively low growing yet robust. Dwarf gorse or Ulex minor is a low growing, sprawling shrub.

After salad crop failures in Spain and shortages of courgettes, broccoli and other ‘long distance’ vegetables gardeners could to worse than focus on traditional and non-traditional root crops.

The new year gets gardeners all enthused but it is also a time to show patience. The gnomes wont rush to help you anytime soon Hi-ho.

This is one of the many books in my collection but the only one to focus on growing big, bigger and biggest vegetables. If you want to grow giant vegetable for exhibition or to get large crops then there are many pointers in ‘How to Grow Giant Vegetables’ by Bernard Lavery and below.

This is largely from a post I did in 2013 with some updates. Seeing the colour in my garden and watching the single flowers close up for the evening I decided to buy some more seeds for next summer (I hope I can find the space to do them justice) I opted for ‘Copper Swirl’ by TM and for an extra 99p I got ‘Golden West Californian Poppy’ thrown in.  I am tempted to sow half of each packet shortly although the blurb on the packet suggests waiting until Feb or March next year.

Blue Heaven: Encounters with the Blue Poppy by Bill Terry from amazon Bill Terry is a leading North American authority on Asiatic poppies relates his own encounters with the blue poppy and shows how, given a suitable climate, a patient and persistent gardener can raise this most alluring of perennial plants. The origins of Meconopsis are expounded along with comments about those who first discovered and grew the plants. A personal account, fun to read and adds to the collective knowledge.

Have a plan in mind and think about the plants you are going to grow. Fruit, trees and shrubs will be long term investments and mature over time. Bedding and vegetables may need different treatment, location, maintenance and nutrients. Special gardens and collections of plants are even more complex. You almost get out of a garden what you are prepared to put into it!