Poppy Californian Golden West

If you have a patch of dry, poor soil where nothing seems to thrive, the Californian Poppy is your answer. Golden West is a superior heritage variety that produces silky, cup-shaped flowers in radiant golden-yellow with a contrasting deep orange heart, held above mounds of finely cut, feathery silver-blue foliage.

These flowers are solar-powered — opening wide to catch the sun and twisting shut into elegant spirals in the evening or on cloudy days. Virtually impossible to kill, drought-tolerant once established, and listed on the RHS Plants for Pollinators. A prolific self-seeder that will return year after year.

• Eschscholzia californica 'Golden West' — Hardy Annual (H3)
• Height: 30–40cm | Flowers: June–September
• Approximately 300 seeds per packet — sow direct, lightly covered
• Full sun; thrives in poor, dry, well-drained soil — do not feed
• Thin to 15–20cm apart; self-seeds prolifically
• RHS Plants for Pollinators listed

Pair it with Nigella Miss Jekyll Blue — both share feathery foliage, and the golden-orange and sky-blue combination is one of the great simple pleasures of the summer garden.