Papaver rhoeas.

A very pretty and popular flower for poppy seeds — the scarlet red that made a century weep. Immortalized by In Flanders Fields by the Canadian John McCrae, this poppy unfolds its crumpled-silk petals at the top of fine, downy stems.

A generous annual, it self-seeds freely once established — sown once, present for years. A flower of fallow fields, of roadsides and disturbed earth: the poppy grows where the land has been wounded, and consoles it.

Grower's tip: The seeds are tiny, like ground pepper. Mix them with fine sand or cornmeal before sowing for a more even distribution.

• Open-pollinated.
• Height: 60-90 cm.
• Flowering: June to August.
• Exposure: full sun.
• Ordinary to poor, well-drained soil. Hates soils too rich in nitrogen, and excess moisture. Thin to 15-20 cm.
• Late autumn (winter vernalization greatly improves germination) or very early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked.