Poppy facts for Remembrance Day

As the nation pauses to remember those who have given their lives in war, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) asks us to consider the symbol of remembrance – the red poppy.

The field poppy is now associated with the trenches of Flanders and support for the Royal British Legion´s annual poppy appeal, which raises money to support members of the armed forces past and present.

However, according to the RHS the species was originally recorded and given a name in the Historia Plantarum compendium of ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus.

Although gardeners often think of the poppy as a weed, they provide an excellent pollen source for foraging honey and bumble bees and can brighten up a garden with their scarlet hue.

Field poppies which are picked will survive longer in a vase if they have the bottom of their stems seared with a naked flame, according to the RHS.

Poppies became a symbol of remembrance after World War One, when they started to bloom on what had been the western front. Nowadays they often grow on construction sites as disturbed ground provides the ideal conditions for them to flourish.