Everwilde Farms - 1 lb Orange California Poppy Native Wildflower Seeds - Gold Vault Bulk Seed Packet

This Orange California Poppy is the stuff that makes awesome wildflower calendar photos. Lighting up vast expanses of the springtime California mountains, they are probably the all-time favorite wildflower of the West. They can also be successfully grown as an annual in the Eastern US. These golden wildflowers have been the state flower of California since 1903. Their habit of opening and closing with the sun makes them appropriate emblems for the Golden State; they also have a holiday all their own, since April 6 is official California Poppy Day. This poppy was the first identified member of the Eschscholzia genus, identified in 1816 by German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso on an exploratory voyage to California and the Pacific Northwest. Chamisso named the genus after a fellow botanist, Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who accompanied him on the journey. In 1826, noted English botanist David Douglas gathered these California poppy seeds for the Royal Botanical Society; this poppy became one of the first American poppies to cross the ocean to Europe.