Cottage Garden Seeds and Cottage Garden Plants

PLEASE NOTE: Since plants are often sourced from the garden to order, sizes do vary a little, depending on how they come out of the ground, but I always endeavour to give a little more rather than less! They are sometimes shipped bare-rooted, but will approximate the size specified (e.g. a 9cm pot).

Argemone mexicana Wildlife friendly

Toxic: The seeds, which resemble mustard seeds contain a toxic oil (which is known to have been used to adulterate mustard oil). All parts of the plant are poisonous, but seriously toxic only if eaten in large quantities.

Mexican Poppy, Prickly Poppy

Sold out for now

Type/Hardiness	Annual, Wildflower, Hardy
Flowering period	Summer-Early autumn
Height	12-18in/30-45cm
Light preference	Full sun
Soil preference	Dry, light
Sowing time/depth	Autumn, Spring, 0.1in/3mm

This unusual and attractive late-flowering plant with distinctive vareigated and prickly leaves is drought tolerant. The poppy-like, papery lemon-yellow blooms have red-orange centres and are a welcome sight at a time of year when other flowers are saying their goodbyes. Watch out! All parts of the plant are, true to its common name, very prickly! So handle with care.

Sowing and/or growing instructions

In my experience this plant resents being disturbed, so best sown thinly in situ, in light or sandy soil, either in the autumn or spring. Germination takes about 14 days once temperature is optimal. I have noticed that when self-seeded this usually occurs late spring to early summer, with flowering in late summer to mid autumn, so late spring sowing should succeed. Alternatively, sow singly in small pots or 2-inch modules under cover in early spring and try to avoid disturbing the root system when planting out. Plants produced in this manner tend to be considerably larger.