I bought Lauren's Grape poppy seeds to sow in early spring. Going to winter sow some next month, too. Hopefully they will bloom by summer. What flowers would be good to plant in front of them to hide the foliage when the poppies are finished blooming? I want to stay in the white, pink, and purple color range. Thanks for all suggestions.

I find that shasta daisys, daylilies, Michaelmas daisies ( asters), cranesbill ( hardy geranium like Rozanne) and Lavender all work for me in front of my poppies. I'm in zone 5b, Ontario Canada. All of those plants come in color ranges suitable to your color palate. There are many more bushy perenials that work in front of poppies, but these are the ones I have used the most.

tugg,

Thanks for the suggestions. Daylilies wouldn't work. The deer love them! I have grown asters, another deer favorite. I absolutely love daisies, and the deer DO leave them alone. That would probably be very pretty. I've never tried hardy geranium. Definitely worth a try. I grew lavender two years ago and it didn't survive the winter. I planted Walkers Low cat mint this past summer and it was a nice substitute for lavender. I'm hoping it comes back this year!

What about Echinacea?

woofie,

I actually planted a few echinacea in the same garden bed this past summer. The deer don't bother them, but I still kept my eyes out for groundhogs. From past experience they found them very tasty, but no problems during this past summer. Could have something to do with my cat, Patch. He "guards" the yard. lol -- For years, we always had groundhogs living under our back deck and they would feast on a lot of my flowers. Since we've had Patch (almost 3 years) they haven't taken up residence there and they actually tend to stay away from the house.

Below is my "guard" cat.

Very pretty "guardian" and such striking facial markings!

Another possibility might be Agastache? Or perhaps Cosmos?

Lovely cat! I agree Agastache and cosmos are a great idea! Maybe also Anchusa ( lodden Royalist) zone 3 to 9 sun to part shade. Supposedly deer resistant, but we've all heard that before!