Add Poppies To Your Wildlife Garden

For any wildlife gardener, attracting creatures to your garden is essential, and one of the best ways to do this is to buy poppies. Incorporating such fantastic plants into wildflower meadows, nectar rich flower borders, or organic vegetable patches, can be key to attracting insects and encouraging a flourishing eco system.

A range of poppy varieties can be used to attract wildlife, and it is essential that such flowers are nectar and pollen rich. For this reason it is often the annual varieties that can be some of the best. Annual poppies strive to create as many seeds as possible during a flowering season, relying on insects to visit their flowers and cross pollinate individual plants so that fertilized and viable seeds can be created. Therefore, they are often nectar rich to attract bees, butterflies, and other creatures that will help spread their pollen from bloom to bloom.

For gardeners wanting to create natural landscapes, especially those such as wildflower meadows, the use of Red Papaver Rhoeas is perfect. Often associated with the annual Remembrance Day where veterans of the World Wars are thought of, these traditional bright red flowers with black centers are perfect to add highlights and accents to the swaying grasses and native plants of meadows. Meanwhile, with the wide use of Papaver somniferum poppies, occurrence of these varieties in the wild has become common. Growing for only one year, and often growing from recently disturbed and poor soils, poppies from this family are also fantastic for starting a natural flower landscape. These flowers are also a great addition to the edible garden, self seeding themselves amongst vegetables and luring insects to crops which need fertilization to produce abundant harvests.

In the flower garden, varieties of Oriental poppies are perfect for encouraging wildlife. With huge flowers often hosting large amounts of nectar to entice bees especially, these herbaceous plants are great for incorporation into beds and borders. Offering flowers which hang gracefully in the air on structural stalks, blooms can be produced relatively early in the year, offering insects some of the first nectar sources of the season. They also come in a large range of colors and flower shapes, giving the gardener the opportunity to not only create a vibrant and buzzing wildlife garden, but the ability to color match to a certain palette. Oranges, reds, and purples can be interwoven amongst beds to create a hot, tropical vibe. Meanwhile pale pinks, whites, and creams will make a softer look with a cottage garden feel.

Elsewhere there is even the perfect poppy for wildlife lovers with shady and moist areas in their gardens. Such areas are ideal for creatures wanting to avoid the midday sun, including amphibians and insects. Meconopsis poppies, also known as the Himalayan Poppy, will provide a dazzling sight of colored blooms, offering nectar for insects, and attracting flying morsels that amphibians will delightfully snack upon.

Such is the wide variety of poppies that an ideal specimen can be found for whatever the setting. They are ideal for the wildlife garden, offering nectar rich flowers which will draw insects, in addition to creatures further up the food chain. And with specimens for wildflower meadows, landscaped flower borders, and even shady aspects, buy poppies to ensure that nature is welcome within your little oasis.