Perplexing Poppies... One flower in four years!

Hey gardeners!

I've been hanging on to my oriental poppies for years in the hopes that they will flourish. I'll say this beforehand: I'm not going to rip them out. They're in a part of my garden that doesn't matter much, so I might as well leave them there.

Anyway, here's the situation... Four years ago, I bought a few little Papaver orientale starts four years ago in the early summer, I think (an orange-red variety). I planted them in an area with a decent amount of sun, maybe 6 hours/day. The sad little things did very poorly; the leaves turned yellow one by one until they were gone. I know that poppies don't like to be transplanted, but they popped back up the next fall. I'm in zone 8a/b, but we have mild summers here (PNW).

So the poppies continued on for the next couple of years in this cycle: foliage pops up in fall, grows through the winter while leaves yellow to brown one by one, and usually dies back completely in late winter. Come spring, there's more foliage which dies one leaf at a time until around June. Then it goes dormant until September. I've planted oriental poppies in other parts of my garden with more sun, and they do the same thing. Mind you, the foliage only gets about 4" across and 3" tall MAX. Last June, one shot out a bloom before it died for the summer.

I've seen plenty of other poppies in my neighbors' years that are huge -- probably 3' x 3'. I'm starting to think it's just me :( Any thoughts or ideas on what's happening and what could be done?

Thanks a ton for reading my lengthy post and any suggestions you might have!

Come to think of it, the Shirley poppies that I planted from seed did the same thing. Poor, stunted growth that turned yellow (an inch tall, if that), and a couple of teeny flowers.

Other than the lack of bloom, the behavior you describe is normal for oriental poppies. Here, in a much colder climate, leaves emerge in spring, die off after blooming, then sprout again in late summer.
I'd bet that now they've reached a blooming size, they'll be fine.

Annual poppies, such as Shirley poppies (cv. of Papaver rhoeas), can do very poorly if they are overcrowded, as often happens from self-seeding.

Are they blooming? You may have said in your post and I missed it. 3" tall is really tiny.

Do other plants in that spot do OK? I am thinking of a spot at my sister's house where everything with deep roots struggles, I am convinced the prior owners dumped oil or other toxic stuff there (next to driveway). Shallow rooted things do OK.

Never mind I see that they aren't blooming. : / Is everything else in that area doing ok or are you trying to fill in a space that is empty? It does seem strange that just the poppies are suffering. When do you sow the seeds for your Shirley Poppies?

Yes, I corrected myself in the post just above yours and the title of the thread gives it away. I just wasn't paying attention. : )