Native plants for a Cape Cod garden

The wood poppy brings a beautiful yellow flower to the woodland garden in the spring and early summer. It likes partial sun to shade conditions. It is not native to Cape Cod, or New England for that matter, but it is a “neighbor” native to eastern states from Ontario down to Alabama and Georgia. It is considered endangered in some of those locales, so I am all too happy to give it a home away from home. The plant seems to thrive in my garden and it has rewarded me with numerous flowers already. I might see flowers through June. After fertilization, a bristly blue-green pod hangs below the leaves. Seeds with white elaiosomes ripen in midsummer and the pod opens by four flaps. You want to collect seeds at that time – try tying a little plastic bag around the seed pods. If you don’t collect the seeds, wood poppy will self-seed in the garden.