Oriental Poppy: Mission Imposible

happygarden: Wish we could get some of that rain! We "may" get some I believe Wednesday. Glad your poppies did well.
tcs: My poppies died also--no moisture. I am going to keep trying. I really think poppies are very pretty. The blooms looks so delicate. I have lots of annual poppies, but I would also like to have some of the O. Poppies.

Thanks for the comments.

Just found this thread. I see lots of sprouts in my winter sow containers for Beauty of Livermore and Queen Victoria. I will need to transplant them and hope for the best. Will these bloom the first year?

Poppies? yes. though I have only grown annuals.

I see Beauty of Livermore is a perennial... I have no idea if they bloom first year. Hopefully so.

I hope so too! I know my annual poppies will bloom, but I'm hoping for the huge strong stemmed perennials to make a showing also, We'll see.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think your perennial poppies will bloom until the next year. I finally have successfully started some Oriental Poppies last year. They look quite robust right now. They did not bloom last year. Lots of perennials don't bloom until the second year.

Seeds started plants are hard to establish for me.I gave up 4 years ago.
I just dont have the years to wait for a fully mature plant.
birder17 is right,it takes years.
I planted really small plants of Miss Piggy last summer.They nearly died.2 of the 4 plants have survived but it might take a few more years before I see blooms.
I have never put in such small plants so I dont know where in the maturity cycle they would fall
.The price was right but sometimes I need to weigh the price with regard to more immediate satisfaction of a larger plant.

Thanks, Birder. I have an out-of-the-way spot where I put pots with seeds in and plants that won't bloom or are too small and need extra care for a year or so. They don't get lost or mistaken for weeds this way. I just forget about them until I need to fill in some spots elsewhere in the future. It works out well for me and I always have quite a selection.

My understanding are that poppies don't like being transplanted. Took several several attempts by my Mom to get the old fashioned orange ones started in my garden. I am so glad she didn't give up because every spring they are such a great thing to few so bright and happy and full of great memories. So don't give up.

Oriental poppies can be transplanted when dorment in late summer.Leaves dry up and the new crown is starting.
Dig then and transplant.

I guess I should leave mine in the pots til then if they won't transplant well.

If they are Orientals yes I would wait for dormancy.

It is strange my poppies do dry up during the summer and you think they are dead, then some time later, little ones will green up before winter. I had forgot about that until you mentioned them going dormant.

Bump.

I am wondering about some pink peony poppies I scattered in a terra cotta pot with my chocolate mint last summer. They germinated this spring (yay!) But the mint grew faster.

I went ahead and risked the transplant well into the summer. I was impressed with their thick white tuberous roots. Someone said they were annuals. If so I have a dilemma because none have bloomed. Or perhaps the seeds sent to me in trade were mislabeled.

What to do?

Like many of you, I never had success with poppies till this year when I direct sowed where I wanted them to grow.

A.

Amanda,
I am thinking if you waited to transplant them in mid to late summer, and there were tuberous roots, I would think those were Oriental Poppies. The annuals ones would have died and there would be a "dead" dried root.

Well that's encouraging (?!). I intend to bring them inside I guess. Or winter them in the bsmt. Can't imagine letting them go without blooming! Yes, the roots were thick and white. I have 5 plants in various stages of growth, but not anywhere near bloom.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll keep watching them.

I would not take OP's in for the winter, put them in the ground ,Oriental Poppies die back after blooming.They regrow a "winter crown" that stays green all winter.
There is always Google Oriental Poppy Care.
http://www.garden.org/plantguide/?q=show&id=2052

This message was edited Sep 15, 2013 5:22 AM

I agree, keep the O. Poppies in the ground. We transplanted ours in August. They aren't real happy, but we are in a drought, and heat indeces has been as high as 107. This week, it's much more pleasant-temps at night as low as upper 40's and highs in the low 70's. Avg. temps here s/b about 82 degrees.
I believe the O. Poppies will improve with this cooler weather. We are watering them occasionally as we haven't had rain since August 10th, and we're in 4.5 inch rain deficit.

I'll read up on them. Guessing they are not pink peony.

Thanks for the suggestions. :)

Amanda, peony type poppies are basically an annual poppy-I have sometimes called it the pompom peony.
The Orientals are single petaled poppies-unless, someone knows of a peony type oriental. I think you already know this.

Well, as I said, the seeds came in trade, so they could be anything. :)

Do Oriental poppies bloom the first season? The plants are still green and very healthy looking, slowly adding new leaves.

A.

No, they don't usually bloom the first season. They should bloom the second season. Mine did.

Great! So consensus is that I should find a place and put them in the ground now for next season?

Will have to think on this.

Yup.

Here's another question.

When I saw that the seeds had sprouted in the spring I tried to identify the plants by their foliage.

they do not have the typical serrated lance shaped leaves characteristic of the oriental poppies I am seeing.

The leaves are rounded almost like a hollyhock leaf. I thought at the time that the leaves did resemble the peony poppy foliage I was studying at that time.

I will have to find the photos I took or post a new one. I don't want to put these in the ground if they are in fact annual plants.

I don't think they are annuals. Annuals would have completed their entire life cycle by now.
Did these seeds sprout in the ground or in cell pots?

Late last spring I sprinkled the few that I received in trade in a terra cotta pot with some chocolate mint. Since i thought they were annuals.... but nothing came up until this spring.

So.... That is something else in favor of their being perennial. I'll get a picture with the leaf structure. Would be funny if it was something else altogether. :)