Poppies: The Poppy Family in the Wild and in Cultivation

by Christopher Grey-Wilson

Poppies, first published in 1993, was the first book devoted exclusively to these most loved and cherished of plants. Not only are the true poppies, genus Papaver, covered, but all the other members of the poppy family as well. This includes the horned poppies Glaucium, the tree poppies Dendromecon, the California poppies Eschscholzia, the desert poppies, Arctomecon, the prickly poppies Argemone, the pygmy poppies Canbya, the plumed poppies Macleaya, the blue poppies Meconopsis, the long fruited poppies Roemeria, and many more. There are general chapters on the family, cultivation and classification, and a key to genera. The individual genera, grouped into their respective subfamilies, are dealt with, including coverage of their more specialised cultivational requirements. Grey Wilson has concentrated primarily on species and forms in cultivation, together with those species of striking or particular interest that are not present in cultivation but fully deserve to be introduced For this new edition, the author has included much new information about recent discoveries in the wild, as well as new cultivars introduced since Poppies was first published in 1993.

Genres: Gardening

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

Reviews

[William]

Awesome book including everything anyone ever wanted to know about poppies.

Rekindles my interest in growing poppies.

The author points out that there is no problem growing opium poppies in the garden because each plant only produces an infinitesimal amount of drug.