Heirloom Poppy Seeds

Wow! Was this a long time ago thread! How's everyone's poppies?

~* Robin

My CA poppies did not come back this year. I have two little plants with a pink flower on them and that's it! Guess I'll have to buy more poppy seed.

a

My somniferums are potted up and growing, but it will be fall before I have any seeds. I've got some of them in pots I can move to opposite ends of the yard so there is less likelihood of cross pollination.

I'm going to send her the left over of ur seed, Weez. I didn't sow them all. :)

Weez, thanks for the generous thoughts. I really don't mind buying a few but Laura is going to fix me up.

regards,
a

Great!

This message was edited May 28, 2010 5:42 PM

Last year a co-worker gave me some seeds of poppies. They look like the Pale Lavender Dbl Papaver pictured above. I planted a few and kept the balance in a film container. This year I planted a few more and only a very few germinated. My question is: (1) How do you store unused seeds, My germination rate is bad, even using a heating growing pad, (2). Is there a web address on germinating poppies and storing? I am collecting a few seeds and don't want to make the same mistakes.
Thans,
Mike

Mike,
Dry and cool for storing seeds. Not that I'm an expert; I have a difficult time with seeds.

My Ca poppy was a plant givien to me at the Iowa Round-Up. Second year I had them all over. Got in a poppy co-op and none of them germinated but that happened to a lot of people who did that one so the seed may have been too old.

This year no CA poppies came back and I have no idea why. I believe I purchase some from Pinetree or valuseed last year and still only a couple of those plants came up.

I have put them out in the Fall, out in March, and out in May and my results don't seem to change.

So I will just keep trying. Maybe someone here will have a better idea.

This message was edited May 28, 2010 5:43 PM

Great thread! Lots of terrific photos to drool over.

I got my first ever poppy yesterday! I was thrilled. Lots of buds out there, too -with my luck they will all bloom when I am on vacation next week! I will have to ask my neighbor to check and take pix!!!

Here is a picture of the poppy I am trying to save seed for next year. I have collected a few, but notice several colors in the seed. I am wondering if some of them are still wet and if I should let them all dry out. I am saving them in a pill bottle. Should I put something in the bottle to fill the empty space? Any help will be appreciated.
Mike

That's a beauty, Mike! I grew one much like it last summer, but the petals were fringed. Here is my suggestion for collecting and saving seeds:

Allow seed heads to ripen and dry. They are ready to harvest when little holes appear just below the pod's cap. You can cut the heads open or, if you want to save the pods for winter decoration, you can just shake the seeds out. The seeds will appear black or blue-ish.

Dry out all seeds before packaging them. That is my main complaint with using pill bottles for seed collection. One must open the cap, and dump the seeds out to air out or they will mold and lose viability. Even though seeds may appear dry when harvested, they still contain moisture and will rot if stored in an air-tight container immediately.

Once the seeds have dried in an open container for a few days, you can put them in a small ziplock bag, a glassine bag, or a pill container. You can use a strainer to remove any chaff you might have in the seeds. Be sure to label the seeds container, and having a picture to add is very helpful. I try to get pics of all the seeds I collect, since I collect so many varieties and trade a lot of them.

Hey Weezie,

You wouldn't happen to have any more coral or red oriental poppy seeds for SASBE, would you? My cool dry box of seeds that I was gonna wintersow this year has VANISHED! There are a lot of people in this house and not all of us respect each other's junque. I remember you sent me a lot of seeds this year and I filed them in my box and now they're all gone. :-( I can't afford to buy new ones of everything. :-((( [My double chin is showing there.] PLMK

xxxxx, Carrie

mnorberry what is the name of your poppy, I love it. It is just gorgeous.
Connie

Here are my poppies, but I don't know the varieties - they are "hand me downs" .

and then I had some that were REAL double:

Ooh, ooh! Corgimon, those are so beautiful!

My neighbor has some like the second puffy double ones, but they are a very light pink. They're right on the border between our yards. Perhaps some of the seeds will vent in my direction, haha!