Oriental Poppy 'Checkers'

Planting Advice:

• Best planted in a well-drained soil in full sun, Oriental Poppies can sprawl, so do appreciate a little support from other plants or stakes.
• Well-drained soil is essential and add plenty of humus to poor soils to retain moisture. Remember to allow plenty of room for growth as these poppies may reach a metre or so in height.
• Plant in a sheltered site to prevent wind damage to the blooms.
• Water your potted plant well.
• Dig a hole a little deeper and 3 x wider than the nursery pot.
• Add a soil conditioner such as well-rotted manure to the earth removed from the hole if necessary.
• Remove the plant from its pot and tease out a few of the roots.
• Dig a planting hole and sprinkle mycorrhizal fungi (Root grow) into the base.
• Place your plant in the hole at the same level at the pot.
• Refill the hole with the earth removed (backfilling).
• Firm in the soil with your heel, avoiding the root ball.
• Water well and mulch around the base of the plant with a collar, compost, gravel, bark etc.

Aftercare Advice:

• Keep newly planted poppies well-watered until established.
• Give plants a dressing of fish blood and bone in the autumn.
• Provide support before the flowers appear.
• Mulch with well-rotted manure or compost in autumn and keep well-watered.

Pruning Advice:

• Cut back to ground level after flowering. Lift and divide large clumps in autumn.
• If cut back after flowering, they may even produce a second flush.

Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. Pre-ordered items will be sent as soon as possible after the date quoted and we'll generally ship your entire order with your pre-ordered items. When your order is dispatched, we'll send you another email with details of how to track it.

Most orders are sent on a fully-tracked courier service with Yodel. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, no signature is required, and our courier is asked to leave your order in a safe place on your property.

We'll send a tracking link when we dispatch your order, so you know when its due to arrive. Please note, once delivered we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your property. If you have any specific delivery instructions, please let us know - there's an option to enter a short message for the courier at the checkout.

Smaller, lighter, single-item orders may be sent through the post with Royal Mail - in which case no tracking is available.

Our experienced nursery team will always send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive when you plant them, so although most plants are very tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme frosts or heatwaves, we avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme weather is forecast, or over Bank Holiday weekends.

Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.