During World War I, red poppies were among the most visible flowers on the terrible battlegrounds of the Western Front. They were quickly adopted as a symbol to commemorate Remembrance Day, and later Anzac Day.

But if you're looking for fresh red poppies in Canberra, according to manager of Manuka Flowers, Sue Burden, you'll be hard-pressed to find them. Red poppies are a wild flower native to Europe, and only bloom in late spring.

For now, Canberrans will need to make-do with the silk or plastic varieties.

Students from the Canberra Institute of Technology have been hard at work preparing 1000 boutonnieres, or "buttonholes", for Anzac Day.

The buttonholes consist of sprigs of rosemary from the CIT horticultural garden, entwined with silken poppies provided by the Australian War Memorial.

"With the fragrant aroma of the rosemary and the vibrant red poppy, the boutonnieres unequivocally symbolise the cost of conflict and the pledge to remember," floristry teacher Gina Kromar said.

This year's Anzac Day, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, marks the fifth year CIT has collaborated with the War Memorial to supply the buttonholes.

The creations will be worn by VIPs to the morning Anzac Day ceremonies.

Ms Kromar said the task of producing the poppies was an opportunity for the students to gain experience working on an important event.

"The students definitely feel a sense of pride in being involved in such a significant commemorative occasion… It's an incredible privilege," she said.

Meanwhile, students from St Edmund's College have collaborated with the National Capital Authority to produce large plastic poppies as part of an art installation to commemorate the centenary anniversary.

The artwork was installed in Rond Pond, at the end of Anzac Parade, on Wednesday. It will be removed on Monday.

"Rond Pond was the perfect choice for this initiative given its proximity to the Australian War Memorial and the memorials on Anzac Parade," National Capital Estate executive director Helen Badger said.

Students, teachers and parents constructed the artwork last Saturday. It consists of 100 individually-crafted poppies, whose petals were manufactured using corflute plastic.

St Edmund's art teacher Andrew Jones, who was responsible for much of the installation's design, said each petal was about as long as a human torso.

Mr Jones' original inspiration for the design came in a rather pedestrian fashion.

"Worrying about [the design] at night, I saw the red figures on the alarm clock and I immediately thought of bike lights," Mr Jones said.

"I thought I'd do floating bike lights on the pond to make a giant poppy."

He admits this idea was "scaled down" to the individual plastic poppies featured in the final installation.

However, in a tribute to his original concept, each poppy will be illuminated by a special LED light.

"At night they should light up quite nicely," Mr Jones said.

Matthew and David Hackett, two students who worked on the installation, agree the best viewing will be at night.

The Centenary period is four years long, ending in 2018. The National Capital Authority is planning to grow the installation each year during that period.

Ms Badger is hoping to involve other schools so that "we'll be able to add more poppies to the pond."