Steve Silk’s post on plume poppies at Gardening Gone Wild made me realize how much I take this great plant for granted. Evidence of that: I had to search high and low on my hard drive to find even one picture, the PhotoShop filtered image above of an allium with the plume poppy foliage in the background.
Echoing Steve, I love the leaves with their cut edges. My main patch is across the living room from my desk, where that foliage is framed in a window and helps block the busy road out front.
On the north side of the house, it’s maybe not as aggressive as it might be in a spot with better sun and soil. I pluck a few stray runners early in the season to keep it in bounds. It’s not the rampant hog some told me it would be when I first planted it. (I like a plant that can hold its own.) But the plumes do rise up about 7 feet.
I’ve got a real hell strip about 2 feet wide between the driveway and house with the worst soil on the place where it tops off at about 4 feet. It has a totally different character there.
If anyone wants a start, stop by.
