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Container Gardening

What size container for California poppy seeds?

14 years ago

Hello,

Maybe I should have started earlier, but just got a package of California poppy (Mikado) seeds and would like to plant them. I'm balcony only, no proper garden. Can they go in a large shallow (4") container, or will need something deeper? Many thanks.

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Comments (9)

chadinlg Zone 9b Los Gatos CA
14 years ago
I imagine they will survive in any container, but they do like to form a tap-root so the deeper pot would be better.

Chad
sb158
14 years ago
I grew a nice bunch in a 10" glazed pottery container. Just sprinkled some seeds and let them go. They did (and still are) doing great.
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shuredkite
14 years ago
I don't mean to piggyback on your post cyndigo, but is there a difference between California and Oriental poppies? Some sites refer to both and I'm not sure of the distinction.

I ask because I bought an Oriental poppy (apparently) in a 4" pot that I wanted to put into a container with other plants and there was some concern that it would get too big for the container that I had chosen (14"X14" 10" tall). Do some grow better than others in containers?

I'm brand new to this -- I live in an apartment with a boring patio -- and wanted to grow something nice. I love the look of poppies and I may just have chosen the wrong one.
rxah
14 years ago
SHUREDKITE: There IS a BIG difference between Oriental and California poppies...do a search for photos of both and you will see the difference...California (golden) poppies are the state flower and used to grow all over the state along the freeways/ highways, etc., until DDT killed them all off. They also 'come in' a cream color. Oriental poppies look more like 'regular' poppies, but are larger (I'm no expert, but those I've seen can be HUGE...with petals as large as salad plates); beautiful in red.
rxah
14 years ago
I absolutely LOVE California poppies. The plants grow about a foot tall and about as wide. Foliage is greyish-green and lacey. Easily cultivated from seed (don't think they even sell as a plant; don't think it would transplant well).
ellenr22 - NJ - Zone 6b/7a
14 years ago
I love both CA poppies and oriental but there is a big difference. In my zone CA poppies are annual, and oriental is perennial. The latter has beautiful red blooms (maybe other colors too - mine is red) that grow on a long stalk, plus the plant grows bigger every year (spreads out).

So I do not think Oriental wd be a good choice for container.

CA poppies seem to grow everywhere - my garden plot is covered with re-seeds from previous years to the point that it looks like a ground cover.

so I think it wd do well in a container.
shuredkite
14 years ago
Thank all of you -- especially you cyndigo for your post -- for your feedback. I've been scared off from planting it in a pot with other plants and I am just going to plant the poppy by itself in a big pot.

I had read that if a plant is said to be 20" tall when planted in a garden if you plant it in a container it will wind up being about half that size. Further research is telling me that this may not be true at all...
staticx
14 years ago
arent poppies not legal to grow? where did you get seed?
sarajill
14 years ago
I'd thought until recently that poppies were illegal too! I don't remember seeing them at all, growing up in the Northeast. It was only when I went to Europe that I got a good look at them.

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