These popular cut-flowers are available in bright and pastel shades of yellow, orange and white, with some selections like ‘Champagne Bubbles’ also including pink and scarlet-red blooms. Best of all - the more you pick them, the more they will bloom, so cut them regularly to bring indoors.
If Iceland poppies are planted early in the season they will soon provide winter blooms that will keep on appearing right through to late spring. Iceland poppies combine well with other winter and spring flowering annuals and bulbs, and because they also grow well in pots, even a tiny garden or sunny balcony can provide some winter and spring cheer.
Dianthus 'Blueberry Delight' Picture courtesy Nu-leaf NurseryOnce planted winter flowering annuals like poppies will require little maintenance, and all you have to do is to water and feed them occasionally. Insect pests also seem to magically disappear when the cold weather sets in and you will not have to worry about spraying your winter garden.
It is important to remember that seasonal colour is only used to embellish the framework of existing ornamental plants like perennials, shrubs, roses and ornamental trees, in a manner in which the various plants support each other visually and make a rich patchwork of texture and colour.
When deciding which flowering plants go together colour is obviously the first choice but it doesn’t end there, and it’s certainly an art to combine annuals effectively to create a colourful yet harmonious garden. Not only do you need to consider plants with contrasting and complementary colours, but also the
growth requirements of your plant selection. Iceland poppies love full sun, good fertile soil which drains well, regular watering, and the occasional feeding. Therefore their companions should also enjoy the same growing conditions.
Members can click here to read more about growing Iceland poppies
Viola 'Sorbet' Citrus Mix Picture courtesy Ball StraathofWhat colour combinations work best with Iceland poppies?
How to use Analogous Colours in the landscape?
Analogous colour involves working with two or three colours that are next to one another on the wheel, like orange, yellow and red. Your Iceland poppy selection will generally have predominantly yellow and orange flowers. Orange is a warm and vibrant colour and yellow is also warm, cheerful, and friendly, so they are naturally good companions for each other.
Creating a colourful border can be super easy when you plant different colours of the same species together, and Iceland poppies are perfect to implement this type of colour scheme using only two colours. One of the best ways to use the warm colours of Iceland poppies is to plant them in broad brushstrokes, and to repeat them in the garden, interspersed with their annual companions. This will create both drama and interest, and the recurring colour will draw the eye through the landscape and give it a cohesive feel.
In an analogous colour scheme usually one of the three colours predominates, but with Iceland poppies the orange and yellow will dominate equally. Adding small quantities of red flowers in the spaces between the drifts of poppies will just add that third element and make the colours ‘pop’ even more.
How to attract attention in the garden with warm colours?
Bold colours stand on their own, so shades of orange, yellow and red are perfect for drawing attention to your favourite landscape element, be it your front door, on the patio, or next to a brightly painted garden bench, these colours demand attention
How to add contrast to the warm colours of Iceland poppies?
Petunia 'Daddy Blue' Picture courtesy Ball Straathof
If you use mainly warm colours in the spectrum from red through orange to yellow, you should add some cool colours to tone down the palette. Warm and cool colours always work well side by side, and warm colours like yellow, orange, and red tend to come forward or feel closer to you in the landscape, and cool colours like green, blue and purple, and variations of these colours, tend to go away from you, or feel distant to you and recede in a garden. If done well, contrast will add a whole new dimension and depth to the garden.
Both yellow and white are well matched in value, and although both vie for attention in the landscape, they will not detract from each other. And, although Iceland poppy selections usually include some white blooms, it would be good to add more white flowers to the mix.
How to use complimentary colours with yellow and orange Iceland poppies?
Complementary colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel always works well together, and for both yellow and orange Iceland poppies blue is the best complementary colour as these two opposing hues are as different as night and day. Sadly there just aren’t many flowers that are true-blue in colour, so gardeners use colours that are adjacent to blue on the colour wheel like purple and violet to provide contrast for orange and yellow.
Thankfully, pansies and violas are perfect companions for Iceland poppies, and because they come in so many gorgeous shades of purple and violet, they are the obvious choice for adding contrast to your beds. Yellow, orange and white pansies and violas can also be planted between the poppies to bring the colour down to ground level for an even more striking display.
Which flowering annuals best compliment plantings of Iceland poppies?
Adding interest to your flower border can be as simple as mixing flowers with different shapes together, and Dianthus, Petunias, Lobelias, Alyssum, Pansies and Violas, will all serve this purpose and also provide wonderful colour contrast.
Alyssum
Alyssum is a compact, low-growing plant that is available in lovely in shades of pink, rose, purple, mauve, white and yellow.
Members can click here to read more about growing alyssum
Pansies & Violas
Pansies and violas are compact and come in an astounding range of colours, including yellow, orange and white, as well as the purples and violet shades that contrast so beautifully with Iceland poppies,
Members can click here to read more about growing pansies and violas.
Lobelias
Lobelias produce a profusion of tiny flowers in shades of blue, lilac, purple, pink, carmine and white, and some varieties have bright green leaves while others have bronzy foliage which contrasts well with Iceland poppies.
Members can click here to read more about growing lobelia
Petunias
Petunias also come in many shades of purple, lilac, blue and white, making them perfect to pair with Iceland poppies.
Members can click here to read more about growing petunias.
Dianthus
Dianthus remain firm favourites with gardeners and they are available in amazing shades, including mauve, purple and white, to enhance the colours of your poppies.