Poppy Plethora

Poppy Plethora

Beautiful! The colors are wonderful.

And thank you for posting this photo. Now I know what those pale green things growing in my garden might be. I've been debating about pulling them out or leaving them. Now I'm going to leave them because they may be poppies! Thanks so much for this photo.

Lovely GL! I so love all the color variations!!

Lois, I LOVE them! I got a poppy from poppysue last year but it didn't survive. This year I bought a potted one, and it now has 2 flower buds. I doubt it will look like yours, but it is a start, LOL!

Darius.. was it an Oriental poppy? Can you remember what time of year I sent it? I want to figure out the best time to send them so they'll survive.

poppysue... Yes, an Oriental poppy, and I just looked in my trade tracker. I was off a year, LOL. It was 7/20/01.

The trick I learned from PoppySue was to plant the seeds - barely covering them up - at the end of fall or during the winter. This year I didn't get around to planting them until February. This picture is of the new ones from then. The ones from last year have reseeded (peony poppies) and have buds, but haven't bloomed yet.

I'm so happy to finally have poppies!! And it's thanks to (((( PoppySue)))). PoppyLois :-)

Well, that brings up a question. I have only raised beds, and they all have a thick covering of mulch. Would the seeds be planted under a thin layer of mulch only? Or would they be planted in a thin layer of soil, and no mulch cover? Or what?

I'm gonna wait and see what PoppySue says about that. I don't know.

Thanks, Lois.

I've tried planting them on top of mulch ... and it didn't work. They never germinated. I pull the mulch up and plant in the soil. If you're worried about weeds try taking up a section of mulch and replacing it with bagged top soil or potting soil. Then plant the seeds on top of that. Seeds are so tiny they won't make it up through a thick cover. Cover them with very little or NO soil. I usually rake the soil over and tamp them in.

Good advice Poppysue. I plant on top of ground and rake and walk/tamp soil. Poppies, Papaver are so great, so many varieties. My Iceland poppies from seed in the greenhouse this spring, are just beginning to bloom. If they are happy they will reseed. Donna

Interesting poppies grannylois. Are these annuals and do they self seed? I have hundreds of poppies on my allotment and I start all mine inside where I get 100% germination. The ones that were thrown outside have only just got going and my others are now flowering.

Yes, these are annuals and should self-seed. I bought these seeds last summer or fall at the Asheville, NC farmer's market nursery. I think they will self-seed. Sure hope so.