Plant Sale Preview: celandine poppy

Photos & text by Lauren Sims

With the Sarah P. Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale just three weeks away, I sat down with curator Stefan Bloodworth to find out more about this year’s plant offerings from the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants.

This year, the Blomquist will feature a wide variety of woodland perennials. Among them, one great option to consider is the celandine poppy. Its sunshine-yellow blooms are reason enough to bring this plant home. But Stefan says that this plant has more than looks to recommend it. The celandine poppy is a naturalizing woodland perennial, which means that it spreads by seed very readily. So you could plant a couple of these poppies this year and, within three or four years, you could have quite a collection of them. This is a great way to fill out a garden bed. “You get more bang for your buck,” Stefan says.

If you’d like to see these flowers in their element, they’re blooming right now in the wildlife garden of the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants. That's the garden just to the right of the Blomquist's gate house entry. Come on out and take a look!

The Spring Plant Sale is April 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. Duke Gardens members may attend a preview sale from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 29. You can sign up for membership on site or in advance. For membership info, call 684-5579 or write to millicent.snow@duke.edu.

Stay tuned for more preview videos and blog posts.