Poppy Laurens Grape

Discovered growing in a garden by the celebrated designer Lauren Springer, this variety has become a cult classic — and it is easy to understand why. Large, bowl-shaped single flowers in a luscious deep violet-plum with a silky satin sheen, set against glaucous silver-blue foliage that makes the dark blooms seem to float in the border.

A plant that gives twice: first in flower, then in the magnificent urn-shaped blue-grey seed heads that stand stiff and architectural through autumn and dry beautifully for winter arrangements. A prolific self-seeder and RHS Plants for Pollinators listed — once you grow it, it tends to stay.

• Papaver somniferum 'Lauren's Grape' — Very Hardy Annual (H7)
• Height: 75–90cm | Flowers: June–August
• Approximately 500 seeds per packet — sow direct, do not cover
• Full sun; well-drained soil — thin to 30cm apart
• Self-seeding — naturalises beautifully over time
• RHS Plants for Pollinators listed

Grow it with Ammi majus for a florist-quality combination, or with Cerinthe for a cool-toned moonlight border that comes into its own at dusk.