Californian poppies Eschscholzia californica are delightful flowers that make you feel happy and glad to be alive.

They thrive in poor soil and like full sun. Once they have finished flowering they spread their seeds about and then pop up again ready to flower the following year. Like love-in-a-mist they are cheap and easy to grow annuals. As they come into flower the green bud pops off like a pointed hat and the petals unfurl. At the end of each day the flowers close up again in a spiral ready to open the following morning. Once they are in your garden you will have them for years to come as the seed gets spread about. I usually plant a few more seed each spring and then it lengthens the flowering time as the self sown ones will have a head start on all the others and consequently flower first. The seed heads are like long tubes that burst once the seeds are ripe.

This collection are growing amongst a salvia which has red and white petals and leaves that when they are crushed smell minty.
Californian poppies also look good with the purple of hardy geraniums or for a real splash of colour with a fuchsia pink rose.