When did you sow them? I remember one year I sowed some in spring, later than I like to nowadays, probably in late April, and saw nothing from them till a whole year later. Makes me wonder if fall sowing, like seems to happen with self set seedlings, would be a good idea for you.
Anyone growing red 'corn poppies' ??
Thanks Gemini, I think that was part of the problem, I sowed them in spring and probably a tad on the late side. I was hoping to see more seedlings the next year but I think I had one and then nothing this year. However, I didn't sow any for this year. Maybe a few volunteers will pop up in the future. I swear sometimes it's the seeds. I notice sometimes I have no luck with seeds or the resulting seedlings aren't very strong, yet if I try the same type more than once, sometimes I have excellent results. Poppies seem to be one of those finicky ones too. If you Poppy Germination tons of people asking what they did wrong come up. lol
I direct sowed annual poppies last year and was given this advise.
Between December and no later than March.
Poppies need a cold period in order to germinate.
They also need a good growing medium.(The first poppies I sowed 2 years ago,didnt germinate becaust I tossed them on a mulched area)
I clear away any mulch or leaf debrie so I can see soil.
I also scratch the surface if its too compact.I toss the seeds on,someone said they do best if they are not broadcast too thin.
I dont know why the soil scratching is necessary, I have seen poppies growing in cracks in the sidewalk.
Meredith, now that you mention it, it does seem I have had better luck with saved or traded seed than commercial seed for the most part.
Seeds wont germinate if they are harvested too soon.
I wonder if commercial growers jump the gun there.
I had good luck with One Stopp PoppyShopp.
I havnt grown poppies from any other commercial vendor.
I had the best luck (as for commercial seed), with those I got from Swallowtail Gardens. All the seed I got from them performed well.
I have about 8 pack of seeds from SwallowTail.
Ready for spring. No poppies from them, lots of nastuers,asters,cosmos etc.
I think I did have great luck with the Rhoeas now that I think about it. But it was the Red strain. The ones I didn't have luck with were supposed to be more that pastel semi double type mix. It's so hard to tell which ones grew from which seeds I put down. I have been direct sowing Poppies in this certain garden for a few years now. And like you said sometimes they'll lay dormant to bloom in subsequent years. All I know is I got a free pack of poppy seeds that said Red Poppies from cheap seeds with an order for a stepping stone mold. I direct sowed them in about March of 09 and I a lot of red poppies in that bed this spring. Those are the ones in the pic I posted. So that package of seed must of been collected at just the right time. It probably helped that it had a very lot of seeds in it too. I am so glad to hear you had good luck with One Stop Poppy Shop. I've received my order from there. I don't think I mentioned my selections yet. Here's a link to my listing of my order in my journal. Sorry if I tempt any one in to trying some. ; ) I had originally had 3x that amount of seeds in my cart, but I need to be frugal these days like many people so I had to choose about the top ten I wanted to try. : )
Link to my poppy order http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/Meredith79/83206/
I went back and looked at Jann's thread pic and I realize that the ones I got from cheap seeds don't quite look that. They had black in the centers. Maybe someone can help me figure out which ones thay are? I did have some that looked like the one's in Jan's pic, but I think those reseeded from ones I grew the previous year which was when I know I had put down some Rhoeas seeds. I am a bit confused as to which ones I have, sorry. : )
Hopefully this is the right pic of the ones I am not sure of.
Sorry I don't know what's up with my pics not posting right. I am getting them off a flash drive so I think it is messing things up. I'll try again.
Ahh that's when the preview button comes in extra handy... lol.
I thought I was going nuts searching for poppies in that first pic Meridith.
Glad I am not the only one who has malfunctions from time to time.
That poppy is beautiful
Lol thank you Ge! : )
It took me some time to find a photo of one but this is the other type that I think is a P. rhoeas. Notice how there is no black? Can rhoeas have black or is it a different one?
I am not the one to ask.
I planted Rohes (sp) last december and they never germinated.
When I encounter a problem with a plant I just pass on to the next idea. There are so many poppies that are successful for me I just stick with what works.
The reds I have in the butterfly garden are a mix, some with black splotches, some without. I think there's a lot of variance within the species.
That must be what is going on then, just variance. Thanks, I usually am so good at keeping records of what I plant but I sprinkled these down at a point where I hadn't started everything I was supposed to and was trying to keep up with watering all my seedlings and such. You know that spring rush you get, when you realize you had made way too many plans, of what you'd grow from seed that year. Lol
Its winter and I feel that way now.
I just made 3 new picasa albums and Finally figured out how to add plants and pix to Plant Files,that should keep me busy.
Ge It's funny you say that because I just finished a couple albums on there. That's my favorite photo storage site. Do you have a picasa web album? It's so easy to use with picasa and they even have my favorite print store - Snapfish so I can just click on it to order prints. If you want give me a link to your web album here or through d-mail and I'll link you to my album. I love looking at others garden photos to get me through winter. : )
I did find out how to post albums on Daves
http://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/DayliliesLiliesDaylilyGarden
I will create a poppy album
First year sowing poppies directly.They are selfseeded for next year plus I added some in places not sown before.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/Poppies2009
Love your Daylilies. : ) http://picasaweb.google.com/FlutterbugGarden/DavisBrookFarmDaylilies?feat=directlink
Thanks Meredith
I got gmail from Flutterbug.This album thing is new so I'm not sure what to do with it.
That DL collection is splendid.
Thanks Ge I will slowly be adding to it as I go through my 09 pics. : )
R you Flutterbug?
Yup, I'm sorry I should have mentioned that. : )
I thought you were jgentle4, was I mistaken? I made that one a favorite.
Here's what I did.
Made albums clicked public viewing so anyone can see on the net.(I guess)Google pick up visitors with comments and sends email to my google address.
Google also is where I downloaded Picasa for free.
All I wanted was photoediting soft ware that I could make collages with.
I havnt explored the rest of Picasa until I made albums yesterday.