![]() Planning and preparation: California Poppy has two subspecies: 1) Eschscholzia californica californica, with the well-known yellow-orange blooms and 2) Eschscholzia californica mexicana, or Mexican Gold Poppy, which blooms yellow, with a native range primarily in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. See Soil and Microclimate Tips for California Poppy ( Eschscholzia california) for more information. It may produce more vegetative growth and fewer or no flowers in fertile soils, especially those that are high in nitrogen. When grown in rich soils that remain constantly wet or moist, California Poppy tends to suffer from root rots and other diseases. While normally best kept to drier soils, it can be grown among or beside vegetables and perennials, especially in raised beds and soils that drain well. California Poppy is partially an exception it makes a reasonable companion in garden borders that receive less water, or interplanted with established non-native plants in well-drained soils where watering is infrequent. Many California native landscape plants don’t tolerate soil fertility, and suffer or die in the rich, microbially active soils needed for vegetable gardens. It may germinate poorly, underperform, and need more-frequent watering in coarse and sandy soils. It prefers well-drained clay and loamy soils but tolerates and often thrives in poor or infertile soils provided that they drain well (such as clay soil on hillsides), and tolerates a wide range of soil pH from about 5.2 to 8.3, with an ideal pH of about 6.5 to 7.5. Good drainage is essential for growing California Poppy. Established plants may die back or go dormant during summer heat. It grows and blooms best at daytime temperatures of about 55° to 80☏. It is perennial, but also grows as an annual in gardens and in wild areas where summer temperatures exceed about 90☏ for long periods or where winter temperatures drop below about 15° to 20☏. It can bloom almost year-round in mild-winter, mild-summer areas.Ĭultural needs and environmental conditions: California Poppy needs full sun during cool-to-warm weather. It attracts and provides food for various native and non-native insects and pollinators. It becomes extremely drought-tolerant after establishing a thick taproot of several inches or longer, most reliably in cool areas, such as in California coastal areas and in mild temperate-climate areas with cool summers.Ĭalifornia Poppy thrives in almost any well-drained soil, and is a long-time reliable solution in Mediterranean climates for color on hillsides and in other difficult areas. It requires little more than scattering seeds from fall through late winter or early spring in warm-winter California areas and occasional watering, especially during warm-to-hot weather when grown as an annual, or in coarse or sandy soils.Ĭalifornia Poppy is among the very best options, native or otherwise, for lovely, resilient, and somewhat-drought-tolerant bedding flowers and mass plantings in temperate and mild-winter California areas. ![]() ![]() Many California native plants that are adapted or bred for urban landscapes have a reputation for being fussy with special needs, or being difficult to grow. GardenZeus receives commissions for purchases made through links in this post. ![]()
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