California poppies are annual plants with feathery gray-green foliage. The four-petaled flowers, borne on stems 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches) long, are usually pale yellow, orange, or cream in the wild, but cultivated varieties are available in whites and various shades of red and pink.

California poppy is used alone or in combination with other herbs for anxiety, trouble sleeping (insomnia), aches, nervous agitation, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

These plants are usually hardy and can even be found growing out of the cracks in paving slabs. They easily self-seed. The California Poppy or eschscholzia is a brightly colored flower with blue-green foliage.

It is a perennial or annual plant growing to 5–60 in (13–152 cm) tall with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are alternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2 to 6 cm (0.79 to 2.36 in) long and broad; flower color ranges through yellow, orange and red[1] (with some pinks).

Flowering occurs from February to September in the northern hemisphere (spring, summer, fall). The petals close at night (or in cold, windy weather) and open again the following morning, although they may remain closed in cloudy weather.

The fruit is a slender, dehiscent capsule 3 to 9 cm (1.2 to 3.5 in) long, which splits in two to release numerous small (1.5–1.8 mm wide) black or dark brown seeds. It survives mild winters in its native range, dying completely in colder climates.

We’ll be sharing more about this flower in future.