SPERLI Kalifornischer Mohn Multicolor

Silky, bowl-shaped flowers in many colours: the California poppy grows about 40 cm tall, flowers from May to August and likes lean ground.

The story

Origins & history

The California poppy comes from western North America and is the state flower of California. The poet and naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso named it after his friend Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, with whom he took part in a Russian circumnavigation of the globe in the early 19th century.

Uses

It loves sunny, lean spots and needs no fertiliser – lovely for gravel beds, path edges and gaps in the border. In dull weather and in the evening its flowers close. Please note: do not eat any part of the plant.

Meaning

In Spanish it is called ‘copa de oro’, golden cup. With its glowing play of colour it suits California’s nickname, the ‘Golden State’.

A thought for giving

The California poppy opens when the sun shines and closes when the sky turns grey. We need not always be open – but every bright day is a new chance.

At a glance

• Contents: 1 packet for approx. 150 plants
• Botanical name: Eschscholzia californica
• Life cycle: annual
• Height: 40 cm
• Position: sunny, partial shade
• Sow outdoors: April–June
• Flowering: May–August
• Sowing depth: 0–0.5 cm
• Germination temperature: 10–20 °C
• Germination time: 7–14 days
• Plant spacing: 30 cm
• Row spacing: 30 cm
• Seed type: loose seed

How to sow

1. Sow directly where it is to flower from April to June, as poppies do not transplant well.
2. Sow the fine seeds only 0 to 0.5 cm deep in soil loosened with the BERGER Pflanzkelle (hand trowel).
3. At 10 to 20 °C they germinate in 7 to 14 days.
4. Sun or partial shade on lean soil without fertiliser, 30 cm apart in the row with 30 cm between rows.

Delivery time: 1–2 weeks. Manufacturer: SPERLI GmbH. Seeds, not a plant – the image shows the original packet.

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