its genetics....red is dominate, purple is recessive

Oh my gosh, no wonder, this is happening. But it seems like when I plant the purple seeds I get purple. I don't save the red seeds, because they are kind of like a weed, but maybe some of the purple seeds do come up red.

No one emailed me back to say they came up red, in fact, no one emailed me with any reports. I don't know how they did in different climates. I hope someone sees this who got them and will leave a report here. This could be help to preserving them. You can't buy these seeds any where. I got them by accident. I collected a seed pod.

You can find the seeds - search for Papaver somniferum paeoniflorum (peony poppy). Swallowtail Seeds, Chiltern Seeds, any of the better companies offering ornamental poppies may have them.

I think the problem is when I look up Papaver paeoniflora is a flowering annual more commonly known as Papaver somniferum, and when I order those, I get these awful so called bread seed poppies which are not pretty or puffy. I don't think anyone can make opium with these, I don't think they are the right kind, they have to be white. I think I don't know, but one problem is you need heat to have big seed heads. The heads will be small and pitiful without summer heat, and you need a whole field of them. I looked it up, you have to score the seed heads and collect the sap, and these have almost none or nothing like that. Yet, due to this factor, I can't buy the seeds. If I could please suggest the name of the seed company. This is what I get if I order them and they are not nice, I mean it looks ok, in this photo, but I don't even like them over all. They are not puffy. I like the puffiness.

I once got a hot pink one and I tried to save the seeds from it but got no more pink ones. I loved the pink one, but that never happened again. I like the pink one even more then the purple one.

Here is a link that might be useful: pink puffy poppies

You're making it too complicated, the poppy police don't bother those of us growing a few in our gardens. :) I think technically you could make a recreational substance from them but most of us wouldn't know how, or want to learn.

Buy a named variety, a package of generic 'breadseed' are normally somewhat washed out pastels. Sowing the poppy seeds from the spice/baking aisle of the grocery leads to singles, and again, those pastels that don't make much of a garden statement. The black are not really black but deepest purple.

http://www.onestoppoppyshoppe.com/servlet/the-66/poppy-seeds-poppies-flower/Detail

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/745/139

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_952t_papaver_somniferum_var_paeoniflorum_black_peony_seeds

Here is a link that might be useful: Swallowtail peony poppy

"Papaver paeoniflora is a flowering annual more commonly known as Papaver somniferum". No, not correct. Not commonly known as. What you are looking for is the specific more ornamental double variety of papaver somniferum -

P. somniferum var. paeoniflorum

I goggled somniferum paeoniflorum and I got that link, as shown below, but I will try those sources.

I think I did get a few tiny sprouts of the purples, but the cat messed up a lot of the bed and the seeds were ruined therefore. But, I may be able to get one more batch of purples but if I don't get any seeds from those I really will be out.

I did try to score the seed head once to see if there was any sap that would come out and there was no sap on these at all. I waited days and no sap appeared and I concluded these are wrong. These would not be the ones they grow in Pakistan. Those are white, I also researched them.

I have seen similar ones in different colors in other yards, such as salmon ones. I got some salmon seeds in trade, but nothing came up from those. If the seeds are old, they won't sprout normally this is problem. Therefore, one has to keep growing them constantly to keep the seeds fresh. They are not an easy plant, at least not here. I would not recommend them to beginners.

Here is a link that might be useful: somniferum paeoniflorum ehow link comes up

Found this:
Papaver somniferum Paeoniflorum group (sometimes called Papaver paeoniflorum) is a subtype of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double, and are grown in many colors. P. somniferum Laciniatum group (sometimes called Papaver laciniatum) is a subtype of opium poppy whose flowers are highly double and deeply lobed, to the point of looking like a ruffly pompon.

I did find some seeds for sale, so good, I can order those and not all is lost. I would like some other colors, they have the white and it says yellow, but there is no photo of those.

Here is a link that might be useful: they have whites and yellow here

I found the exact ones under the name Papaver laciniatum, here they have the pink ones and the purple ones in case anyone wants to order them. This is great, I really wanted the pinks most of all. I hope they don't come up as bread seed poppies.

Here is a link that might be useful: pinks and purples here

Your zone is not remarkably different than my own maritime 8b. Direct sow in Fall or winter. Or both for a longer succession of bloom. They are an easy colorful annual for many of us, aren't difficult if you protect from slugs/snails when seedlings if those are an issue in your yard. And of course, the cat. Again, I think you are making it too difficult, possibly overthinking it. They don't especially transplant well but are a breeze direct sown.

It is a bad cat, everytime I have a clear space it ends up messing it up with the claws. She sort kicks at the soil with the back legs, and stirs it up with the front legs.

tropical_thought. To keep cats out of freshly sown seed beds just place some prunings, prickly if you can get them, over the soil until the plants are established.

Papaver somniferum is highly variable and it is very much luck of the draw what you get from seeds. Both laciniatum and paeoniflorum are types of P somniferum and will eventually revert unless constantly rogued. They have an in-built tendency to revert to the basic mauve.

By the way, the picture you show of a mauve poppy does not look like P somniferum to me but more like a Shirley or Corn poppy. The central boss is the wrong form for P somniferum and the stem appears to be hirsute whereas P somniferum is smooth, almost succulent, in texture.

There are no yellow P somniferum. Yellow 'poppies' are all of different species and even genuses.

Since you live in San Francisco, you can always take a short trip over to Annie's Annuals in Richmond; she sells lots of fancy poppy plants!

Here is a link to her pink peony poppy. It is not available right now, but they will shoot you an e-mail when it is.

Here is a list of all of the fancy poppy types she sells.

I was able to sprout a few of them, so I saved the seeds from the red one and the purples area about to open up, so I will save some seeds, but the seeds I bought for white ones on ebay, did not germinate. I think mine are more viable then the ones for sale online.

I feel encouraged and they are reseeding freely, although the new seedling probably won't bloom because the weather is not hot enough and they won't set seed properly in the winter. But, I did save the seeds.

tropical_thought - your seedlings will bloom when they are ready. Even in my climate plants which germinated in late summer/autumn will overwinter fine. But I don't expect them to flower until summer. They produce plenty of seed in our cool summers so there shouldn't be any problem in Ca. They self sow with abandon.

Those are nice I have the red ones also. The problem is they won't bloom until summer but before that diseases and insects will take them out. Or rather I have to remove them often due to insects and fungal problems.