One flower I have had very limited success with are poppies. I used to have them here or there in the garden and they usually die out. I do have one plant now for ten years or more, but I can't remember what kind. It is orange.
One that I have seen pictures of and really like is Great Scarlet Poppy (Papaver bracteatum). I love the red with the black. In fact my favorite poppies are RED.
I just bought some seeds of the annual red Flanders Poppy. I know I should have started them already but just thinking on it now.
Thinking of Poppies
Am I correct in thinking those annual Flanders Fields poppies (Papaver Rhoeas) will only bloom for awhile in the spring and then die down?
If I get California Poppies ( Eschscholzia californica) do they bloom all spring summer and fall?
You can probably tell that I have lots to learn about growing poppies.
Hi Rita - I can't answer in regards to any of the other poppies since I have only grown a few, but I can answer about the California poppies. They only bloom once, and for a period of a couple of weeks....but they do set seeds readily and they self-seed and come back. In CA, they are blooming now.
This is my first year of planting poppies from seed - the Flander's poppies - and, I got them out late for my area (about three weeks ago). I scattered the seeds on the ground, and there are seedlings coming up all over the bank down by the road. I already suspect, though, that the temps may warm too quickly , and if they do bloom, they probably won't last long in the heat. We're already having days around 80°F this early in the Spring. We'll see how this "experiment" goes!
I haven't even planted mine yet. But they are annuals, they should bloom, they are really programmed to bloom or there would not be any seed for next year.
Rita,
I'm in your zone, and I've had success winter sowing poppies. I have a bunch of papaver oriental of different varieties that I wintersowed the winter of 2009. I transplanted them to my garden, and this year they are huge - and I expect to get blooms. I wintersowed Great Scarlet Poppy (Papaver bracteatum) this winter (2010), they've germinated in their milk jugs, and I'm waiting until they get their first set of true leaves to transplant them. I'll let you know how they do. You have to be patient if you grow them from seed, but the poppies I have in my garden look so happy that I think it's worth it, especially if you've had trouble with other methods. Good luck!
I've heard that poppies don't like to be transplanted, when you winter sow, is the secret to transplant them when they are very young?
I sowed some of my poppy seeds today. On the flanders red poppies, I direct sowed some and I also sowed some in little pots so I could plant them in the garden in spots that are not yet ready.
I also sowed one of my two envelops of Mission Bells California Poppies. Again in pots. Actually in reused plastic six packs that I bought annuals in and planted already.
Its absolutely freezing today, well 56 but feels so cold with the wind blowing. Figgured it was a good day to start poppies.
How long does it take for germination? I was wondering when I should look for little plantlets. Thanks!
Well, I checked on my Papaver bracteatum that a transplanted to the garden in early april from their containers. They were TINY (the leaves were only about 1/4 long when I transplanted them, and I'd say I lost about 1/2 of them :(
Last year I waited until the leaves were about an inch long, and they did much better. So, in my experience, you want to transplant them when they are still small, but not TOO small. Oh well. I hope some survive, and there's always next winter!
I never give up trying on perennial poppies. I have to resow a flat of ruffled orange and fruit punch (they didn't come up.) I do have a couple of fruit punch that survived though. I will just keep trying until I have more than I need (which might take years at this rate.)
The annual poppies I sowed on April 28th are up nicely. Still small yet of course but they are growing quickly.
It's raining, windy, and just plain ugly out, but some of my poppies are starting to open!
Here's "Brilliant Red" (wintersown Feb 2009).
And here's Princess Victoria Louise, just about to open. It was also wintersown Feb 2009.
I'm so excited!!!!
My poppies (papaver) are getting ready to open. Their delicate bloom is fragile, and I get about 2 weeks of poppies every year. They typically open when peonies bloom, and you can count on rain to ruin the bloom.
I've tried sowing California poppies from seed, but that seedling is very delicate. This year I bought some healthy, young plants, so I'll see what happens!
Here are some pics of Princess Victoria Louise now that they've opened.
another
The stems are really strong, and they haven't flopped at all.
Pam, did you wintersow that Princess Victoria Louise poppy or buy it from local nursery as starter plant. Love those purple lupines and pink foxglove(is that candy mountain?)Are lupines hard to grow? Is that Johnson's blue or Rozanne in front of them? Beautiful combinations, as always!
Pippi,
I winter sowed them the Princess Victoria Louise's. I got the seeds at Swallowtail Garden Seeds. The geraniums are Johnson's Blue. But, I'm thinking about trying to intersperse some Geranium Rozannes in there as well. My Johnson's Blues have been blooming for a month already, and with the really hot weather we've been having, they are starting to get a little straggly. They still have buds on them, so they will be flowering for a while longer, but they are just starting to look like they've seen much better days (and they have!). Anyway, my Rozannes (in another bed), are just starting to bloom, so I'm thinking that it might be nice to have both in there so I can cut back the JB's when they start to look tattered, just when the more compact Rozannes start to bloom. Before my JB's start to look ratty, they are just gorgeous, and I think they look much better than Rozanne does at her best. So, I don't want to replace my JBs with Rozannes, I just want to have a back up for when JBs start to fade. Anyway, that was more info than you were probably asking for, but I thought I'd let you know my future plans in case you want to try it too. The lupines and foxglove in this picture were also wintersown, and were very easy to grow. About a month ago, I also put some soaked (overnight) lupine seeds in my cutting garden and they pretty much all germinated and are already little plants. They probably won't give me much of a show until 2012, but they seem to grow very easily. Thanks so much for the compliments!
Anxious to see what I get with the California poppies. Bought a few plants, and they are doing well, but I do not see buds. They are supposed to self sow, so I'm hoping I'll have a variety in the future.