I haven't found opium poppies worth growing either, they flop, brown out and don't have that many flowers per plant. Give me Shirley poppies anyday over these.

I don't know what my poppies are for certain, some are seeds that were about 10 years or more old from Thompson and Morgan, and they germinated and are blooming (unless those were in American Meadows mix). The blooms do not last long but I really like them.

I took a packet of seeds from American Meadows which had bachelor button, baby's breath, their own redder poppy, some daisy seeds from another packet (if they make it I don't think they will bloom until next year) and used two packets of the T&M ones (think they were called Fairy Wings), shook them up with sand, they were all surface sowed and stepped on to press in.

They really make a charming little flower bed, but the poppy blooms only last about a day then are gone and would not be suitable for cut flowers. The foliage does not look bad, but we are at the beginning of a prolonged heat wave, so I don't know. I'm having to water that area every day and sometimes twice, maybe once things get established better, they won't need so much water.

I have some oriental doubles and another packet I might try next year.

They need a spot where they can self-sow and then they will give you a fairly long display of color. It's taken me a while to get them going but I have hopes that now they're flowering and have open, sandy soil around, they will be back for years. Volunteers are always welcome.

Maybe I spoke too soon. There is a lot of wilting today and yesterday, there is nothing I can do now but water. I should have worked something into the soil to hold the moisture better. It doesn't even get a full day's sun because of trees, but when the sun does hit it, it is hot. Maybe Darwin's law will take over, the poppies might tolerate drought better than some of the rest of the plants and they will live long enough to produce seeds that self sow.

The foundation of the house is painted white and everything close to it is in worse shape.

I'll see about getting a soaker hose, hope I can use it with some kind of two-way coupler so I can attach my regular hose to it.

Well, I didn't seem to have trouble with them growing at all. They are in enough sun and they did fill out and have enough buds on each plant to give a few weeks of bloom all together. I even enjoy the seed pods as much as the blossoms. I guess I just find the habit and foliage difficult to fit into the rest of my border. Plus the foliage does look awful right now. I have a feeling it is not something I have done wrong. I think they are supposed to get awful foliage after they flower. We have had a ton of rain here this year, and if anything, the yellowing/browning of the foliage could be from that. I have clay/loam rather than sandy soil, but it is on a slight elevation and the drainage is good.

If I had an area away from the house, that was meadowlike in full sun, they probably would work right. If anyone has photos of how they use their poppies successfully, I would love to see them. Not wanting to give up on them yet.

Thanks :-)

I see T&M has some Flanders Field poppies. Oh, do I want to try some of those! They look like the ones in Monet's painting. But where will I plant them? lol.

I see T&M has some Flanders Field poppies. They remind me of the ones in Monet's famous painting. Oh, do I want to try some of those! But where? My space is so limited. I'll find a spot.

Mine do not get full sun and are blooming anyway; maybe the blooms would be more prolific if it were full sun, but I'll take what I can get. And they are jam packed in with all the others. Nature thins by survival of the fittest, so I guess that is what I do lol.

Hi prairiemoon! I wintersowed poppies this year, and I have to say that I am underwhelmed with them! I sowed Cedric Morris, Pink Peony, and White Cloud. I had fairly good germination, but I just wasn't pleased witht their garden performance.

However, in my case, it may be my own fault. I think I planted mine out too late, and they were starting to get floppy in their containers. They did well at first, but between the heavy rains, and then some big animal making a mess of the bed they were in, well, they just never recovered. But the blooms were quite fragile, IMO, and the foliage did indeed look ratty quickly.

I'll probably give them another try, but they will go in anothehr spot next year. I put them in my cutting garden to use in bouquets, but I guess they are not really suited too well for that - unless of course, next year they have stronger foilage. We'll see. I always try to give things at least a second - and usually a third! - chance.

:)
Dee

Hi Dee :-)

I started mine late too. I had a Fancy Mix and some of the poppies were really pretty. They do only last for a day each, and I understand they don't make good cutting flowers either. I can imagine the petals falling off by the end of day one in a vase. I have heard people suggest burning the end of the stem with a match but don't know if that improves their vase life. Never tried it.

I didn't get any large animals messing them up, and I was blaming the rain for awhile, but I was out looking at them yesterday and wow, this latest heat wave has really hit them hard. They look even worse. I think they are just finished
flowering and dying back and they would have done that regardless. Maybe not as floppy if there wasn't as much rain, but in New England, this is our weather..lol. Crazy, but it's always something

I will also give them another try next year and plan to put them in a different location and put them between and among other plants to see if that makes a difference, and pull them when they start to get ratty. Did you have a favorite? I want to try Patty's Plum next year and Black Peony. I am going to winter sow them a little differently.

Going to pull them this week. Supposed to get a lot of rain later today.

Thanks Dee :-)

I winter sow California poppies for my vegetable garden, then seed them throughout the summer...they love the cool of fall.
The heavy rains this year sure has kept them flopped and sprawling. But, every morning they are loaded with fresh blooms. I dead head.
I do pull them out when they seem to be getting old and the leaves start to die back.
I should try other kinds of poppies...love that orange burst of color with the bulls blood beets and red lettuces...

I love those California poppies (Mexican gold poppies), too. They have become my favorites ever since I saw them covering the desert in Arizona. They bloom right through from spring till winter, and wind their way among the other plants.

I just pulled out all the peony poppies...ugly and rotten too fast...not worth the time and space... Shirley poppies are gangly and the bed is hard to weed (any tips for that?) But their colors are spectacular so I keep growing them.

I have breadseed poppies in one bed, and find them to be a really, really low maintenance and showy display. They self sow and have been reliable and put on a show at least a month long. No, none of them flopped. I suspect these are one plant who likes a certain spot and being left alone. There are other perennials in that bed, and also annuals who take over when the display is kaput and the seedheads in themselves are very decorative. Sorry you are having problems with them, but wanted others who might be influenced by reading the post that some people find them quite easy and reliable.

Hey prairiemoon - at the beginning of this thread, you said you thought you posted this already but couldn't find it. Do you think you posted on the Winter Sowing forum? I ask because I was just there and saw a thread on poppies. I thought it was this one, opened it, and was going nuts because I SWORE I posted to it, lol! I thought, oh well, maybe it didn't "take" when I hit the submit button. Then I came directly to this forum, and voila! Here is your thread! I didn't notice who originated the other thread on the WSing forum, but maybe it was yours?

These poppies are making us crazy in more ways than one, lol! Well, good luck to the both of us with our poppies next year!

:)
Dee

I ran into that second thread that I started on the Winter Sowing forum too, Dee. [g] I could have sworn that is the first place I looked, since I am over on that WS forum all the time. Glad you figured it out and didn't end up posting twice...lol.

Definitely will try a different way of doing them next year and we'll have to check back next year and see how we like them. Thanks Dee :-)

Calliope, thanks for posting the happy experience you are having with your breadseed poppies. So what other perennials and annuals are you growing with them that take over when the poppies are done? Do you pull the old foliage when it starts looking ratty? What part of the country are you in? If you get a month of bloom when is it? All of May or June? I started mine from winter sowing and held them in containers for awhile before I could plant them out, due to tremendous amounts of rain, so I am not quite sure when they would sprout and bloom if they just came up on their own. Thanks :-)

Mine are returns. They've been returning on their own now for about seven years. Although the first year I started them in flats, I find they're most reliable from seed. I sow mine as early as a mild day in February right on the ground I've fluffed up. I start seeing the seedlings from those and the volunteers early in spring........maybe march or april. I started getting bloom this year in mid June and the last one just bloomed out days ago.

I really don't mess much in that bed. It has artemesia annua in it, clematis, angelica archangelica, astilbe, hosta, dianthus and whatever annuals I plop in to fill in the blanks. This year pelargoniums, annual aster, gypso, alyssum, and ageratum.