Where to buy poppies?

miss choc

I love poppies but find it hard to find them in the usual garden centres near me Woodies, Atlantic etc. I love the wild red ones that grow on the sides of the road any time I picked one and tried to grow from the seed it failed have tried seed packets also and failed miserably at growing would lovely a load of different coloured poppies growing in my garden but find it hard to find the plants themselves.

Nonmonotonic

Poppy's should be the easiest flower to grow from seed ( look at any ploughed field in the country!). Are you sure you are waiting for the seed head to dry out before using the seeds. The Poppy disperses its seeds like a pepper shaker from the part arrowed in the picture.



There are hundreds of tiny black seeds in a single seed head so its amazing that you have had NO success at all. The seed head has to be brown to be ready and the seeds should shake into your hand easily.

If you still have no sucess PM me and I can send you some from my garden when they go to seed.

BTW This is the site I got the image from, showing when seed heads are ready.

miss choc

no thats where I'm going wrong I see the wild poppies the odd time and just grab the seedhead and plant it in a pot with soil unfortunately dont live near loads of wild poppies to watch the seedheads ready to pop. There was a lovely orange one growing on the side of the road once I took the head and planted it but I guess they just rot in the soil

artieanna

Just be aware...
There are annual poppies which you sow the seed they flower and seed in one year and you have to resow the following year.

You can get perennial (flower every year) poppies in garden centres I have red (from garden centre) and orange (I grew from seed).

once they are planted in the garden they flower every year, with no probs..

kylith

miss choc wrote: »

no thats where I'm going wrong I see the wild poppies the odd time and just grab the seedhead and plant it in a pot with soil unfortunately dont live near loads of wild poppies to watch the seedheads ready to pop. There was a lovely orange one growing on the side of the road once I took the head and planted it but I guess they just rot in the soil

Unfortunately I don't think you can grow poppies from cuttings. You best bet is to get some seeds either from your local garden centre or from a website like seedaholic.com

redser7

Have had great success with B&Q brand californian poppies this year (99 cents). Can't believe how they have exploded, so many flowers. How did you prepare the soil and when did you sow the seeds? Maybe a little extra research is all you need. I sowed direct into the ground in early march, in free draining soil that I dug over to a fine tilth. It's important to protect the seedlings from birds and cats. I threw some light netting over them for a few weeks till the were growing strong. You should water the seedlings if the soil surface goes dry. Just a light sprinkle from a watering can around the base on the soil so you don't break the stems. Also important to thin the seedlings to the correct spacing as shown on the back of the seed packet. It's late to sow them now, but most annuals can get to flowering stage within 3 months. With the soil nice and warm you could chance your arm and maybe get a show for September/October if the weather stays fair enough. Just so you can get some experience in for next year.
I believe poppies don't like transplanting and root disturbance so I would be surprised if it is possible to get plants in garden centres. Good luck.

shrubs

Poppy seeds generally need a cold spell to stimulate germination. Placing the seeds in the fridge for a few weeks before planting in the spring should significantly increase germination results. Seeds of the annual red one can be found in most seed collections, usually in the wildflower section. Alternatively perennial cultivars of Papaver orientalis can be found in most decent garden centres.

Also Californian poppies are actually varieties of Escholtzia.