Papaver orientale Little Dancing Girl - Oriental Poppy

The Papaver orientale 'Little Dancing Girl' is a variety of Oriental Poppy with irresistible charm. From a compact clump of beautiful green dissected leaves emerge medium-sized stems that bear large flowers with slightly wavy petals. Their soft pink color is enhanced by macules and a dark red heart, creating an elegant contrast that never fails to impress from May to July. This variety will thrive in a diverse flower bed and can also be grown in a container on a terrace.

The Poppy or Papaver is a member of the Papaveraceae family, which includes 42 genera and 775 species, many of which are beautiful flowering plants like Meconopsis with unreal blue flowers in certain species. The Oriental Poppy or Tournefort's Poppy is a perennial plant native to Asia Minor, introduced to France in the early 18th century. The botanical species grows from the Caucasus to Iran, passing through Turkey, where it forms perennial clumps that die back in winter and reappear in spring. Each wild plant develops a few hairy stems that emerge from a compact clump of dissected leaves, each bearing a solitary flower. With a diameter of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6in), the flower consists of 4 to 6 petals, mostly red in color, but also white, orange, or lavender. Flowering begins in late May and is interrupted in July by the heat prevailing in these regions.
The Papaver orientale 'Little Dancing Girl' is one of the many horticultural varieties derived from the botanical species. It forms a compact clump about fifty centimeters tall when in bloom, and 35 to 40 cm (14 to 16in) wide. The long, rough-textured leaves, ranging from medium to dark green, are deeply lobed and form a vegetation mass 35 cm (14in) tall. From May onwards, floral stems rise above the foliage, 50 cm (20in) above the ground, each bearing a single, solitary flower of great beauty. Resembling our wild Poppies, the corollas, about ten cm in diameter, display a beautiful soft pink color, with undeniable romantic charm. The slightly crumpled petals evoke the texture of crepe paper and are adorned in their center with a dark red spot of great effect. The central crown of stigmas surrounded by a ring of stamens is of the same color, creating a strong and stylish contrast with the pink corolla. Flowering occurs from May to July, after which the foliage partially or completely dries up depending on the intensity of the heat, only to reappear in autumn or even spring.

This Oriental Poppy 'Little Dancing Girl' will beautify a terrace when planted in a decorative pot and provide lovely flowers for bouquets. It will also be perfect in the foreground or background of a diverse flower bed with various perennials and bushes, in a sunny location. You can create a stunning scene by pairing it with some Iris germanica, whose spring flowering displays all the colors of the plant kingdom according to the existing varieties. For the beginning of the season, Corsican Spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) will form a bluish carpet with flowers ranging from gold to chartreuse green.