Are you a poppy person?
Posted on May 14th, 2008 – 2:38 PMBy Jaime Chismar
I can grow a pepper in my sleep, but poppies, with their fuzzy buds and paper-thin petals, are totally perplexing to me. I bought two pre-potted poppies from a garden center lat year. One died right away — Too much sun? Too little? And the other sprouted leaves early in the spring, then just stopped growing.
Starting from seed has been equally disappointing. Three sprouts from a whole package of seeds? What IS it about my yard that you poppies don’t like?
Luckily, I’m not the only gardener with poppy concerns. Yvette posted an interesting poppy question yesterday:
i have a question - i sowed some flanders poppies (aka corn/shirley) directly into the ground about 4 weeks ago, as the pack said they don’t like being transplanted and can be outside before the last frost. they have sprouted, but have remained tiny and have not got any true leaves yet. are they just waiting for warmer weather? and do you know how quick they grow (ie how long do i have to wait for flowers?)
Are you a poppy person? What can Yvette and I do to encourage growth? Are some soils better than others for perfect poppies? How long do we have to wait for blooms?
10 Responses to "Are you a poppy person?"
A neighbor has some nice poppies in her front garden. Story is that the previous homeowner regarded them as weeds and did everything he could to eradicate them. His misfortune has been our good luck. A few years ago, we did a plant exchange, and now they are thriving on my south-facing boulevard, right next to the street
I’ve had less luck with store-bought poppies. The one that’s doing the best is in a sunnier spot than its siblings.
My weedy poppies die back completely in the summer. My store-bought ones keep their foliage through summer, but it does look a little spent. If you water them in an attempt to keep them looking perky, you may be overwatering them.
i suck at growing poppies, and coneflowers, supposedly 2 of the easiest plants to grow in the planet. Last year I bought a few planted ones and they died as soon as I got them in the ground. This year I started several different varieties of poppy seeds and though i had good germination rate, they all look like crap-ola right about now.
I’ll be following the comments hoping somebody has something magical to say on the subject.
We get papaver somniferum volunteers in our garden. I even found two hiding in the grass in our yard.
My gardening partner, evil cat, really likes poppies, and planted a bunch this year. I’m not sure how their doing, though . . . she’s in charge of the flowers, I mostly do the vegetables.
Well dang, I direct-seeded some cheap-o wildflower mixes at a several of my previous houses and in every case, ALL THAT CAME UP were poppies!
(I was annoyed, since I was really hoping for purple coneflower and shasta daisy to take root… which they didn’t.)
So what can I say? I dunno.
Maybe it’s the soil?
I think keeping the soil evenly moist and overseeding are helpful. Poppy germination can be tricky, especially the Shirley variety. I finally got decent germination rates this year, by watering daily and using a heat mat. If starting inside, make sure they’re right up against the lights, and barely cover them. Now the seedlings do look pretty tough, with reddish leaves, but I have found this with all poppies when started by seed. I trim off unhealthy leaves when they finally go outside.
I think the right species is also key to success. I have super good luck with Papaver spicatum (which I wrote about last year), Angel wings, and P. orientalis. The spicatum is a perennial with apricot petals which happily self-sows, and blooms for about 8 weeks. It also tolerates light shade!
I found the Angel Wings germinated well, tolerated transplanting, grew vigorously and had many flowers. My only complaint is that they were mostly white, as opposed to the many pastel shades shown in the catalog.
P. orientalis has done well for me from seed and plant. I have heard from growers that they are best planted in fall, but I have one I planted last spring and it came back and is doing very well. They germinate easily, and as long as they are transplanted when young, do well.
Sorry to really go on, but poppies are one of my very favorites!
I also am poppy free at my house. I had some red-orange oriental poppies that came with the house and as soon as I started lavishing water and weeding attention on them they bit the dust. I have tried to get Icelandic poppies to grow either by transplanting from the garden center or seeding and have come up with zero poppies. Mymom has an overabundane of a white and burgundy one that I REALLY wish I could get to relocate but so far, no luck with any of the bunches she has sent north.
Wow! DebW, I thought there was nothing you couldn’t grow (grin)! Your mom’s poppies sound beautiful. I’ve seen photos of JudyBusy’s and I am JEALOUS!
I have poppies that the previous homeowner put in, and by totally neglecting them, they seem to do well. They must just be tricky to get established?
I’ve had luck getting my Icelandic poppies to grow from seed but the transplants never seem to make it.
Ok guys, here’s the key as I understand it; Poppies (oriental)like poor, well drained soil. If you have really sandy soil they probably love it, if you have rich soil, add some sand to the spot you are going to plant. Also, only water poppies in the Spring (if it hasn’t rained, and in the Fall. I don’t water mine otherwise unless it’s a drought.
One weird thing though - every red poppy I’ve purchased has died within the year, and the orange ones have done great - not sure why. Also, my Icelandic Poppies have never come back in the spring. I added more sand to the soil this time around - we’ll see if these make it.
I’ve also had some success with seeding - I pretty much just scattered a bunch around and watered them a little and then left them alone.
BTW, no luck for 3 years running with the fabled Blue Poppy. Anyone have a clue how to grow those here?
Greengirls Jaime Chismar, Connie Nelson, and Robyn Dochterman are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
You can also send your questions, ideas, tips and tricks to greengirls@startribune.com.
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