Does anyone know what would keep an oriental poppy from blooming? The plant "Turkenlouis" is in its 3rd year and has failed to bloom. I moved it late last summer to a location with full sun. Still has beautiful foliage but no buds. Maybe this particular plant is just a dud. Another poppy plant, in its first year, in a different bed with similar soil has several buds. So I don't think soil is a factor. Have any of you experienced this with poppies, and if so, did the plant ever bloom for you? Thanks.
Oriental Poppies
Depending on the poppy most like to be left undisturbed and can pout when moved. My red one (Indian chief I think) took 3 years the last time I moved it. I have 5 others I planted last year and only one bloomed. There is one called Picotte that usually blooms the first year and does very well. Poppies don't really care about soil I think mine do better in the sandy stony soil then the ones in the richer soil. Good luck
Kim
Kim, thanks for your reply. I don't feel so bad, now. The next time I plant a poppy I'll try mixing a little sand into the soil beforehand. I'll try the Picotte that you've mentioned. Thanks again!
Okay, call me an idiot, but I'm completely confused
after reading your posts. LOL.
I honestly thought poppies were annuals. Am I
misunderstanding the life cycle of an Oriental poppy?
Help!
Sitting here with a dunce cap on my head while admiring all of
my poppies this year.
I had this problem with every plant in a sixpack of Oriental poppies, and I never got a decent bloom - occasionally I would get a bloom _in_ the foliage, buried by it like an Easter egg, but never a proper tall bloom on a stalk. They hung around the garden for a good ten years, because I hate to throw plants out. I still have a couple, still doing nothing, while a few dozen yards away someone else grows gorgeous, huge Oriental poppy blooms.
I did find when I dug some of the plants up after a few years that they seemed to consist of several plants crowded together - I don't know if someone had jammed several seeds or root cuttings into one little sixpack cell, or if they grew that way after planting. I tried planting them separately, with no more success.
Other poppies, in another garden, produced flowers the second year, and I didn't treat them fundamentally differently - though the failing poppies were in zone 9 and the successful ones were in zone 8, so there must be any number of differences that are out of my control.
Wuvie, several kinds of poppies are annuals, but Oriental poppies are perennials. They're gorgeous and pretty easy care, though as you're reading here, sometimes reluctant to bloom.
Burnet
There are also anual poppies that reseed themsellves here in Michigan but the seed are harder to get for me. I think they were originally considered the opium poppy. I have 3 kinds now thanks to generous friends and one is even a double. These are much easier to grow but not as showy as the oriental.
Kim
Wow, I'm even more confused now, LOL.
No, actually, maybe it would help if I posted a picture of a
couple of them from the garden.
I've been doing a bit of homework on Poppies the past few hours
and have found some rather disturbing information. It seems that
growing Papaver som is against the law? You can have seeds but
not grow the plants? How insane is that?
Let me get this straight. If you buy seeds intended for bread, that is
fine, but if you plant them, it is against the law?
(scratching head in confusion)
Thank you so much for helping me. Here are a few
pictures from my blooms today:
A windy shot:
Whoops, THIS is the windy shot:
Two more
Burnet, thanks. I'm glad I'm not alone.
Wuvie, your poppies are beautiful. I can tell by the smooth, blue-green foliage that these are annuals. However, the blossoms look very similar to the perennial variety.
I have 3 perennial orientals in my garden. One of them has 7 buds, but no sign of buds from the other two.
7 years ago I ordered a collection of oriental poppies from the Flower-of-the-Month Club (now defunct). Every one of the plants bloomed the following spring. Of course, I've moved since then. I never realized that these plants can be so temperamental. :-)
Wuvie, here is a shot of mine. Annuals - I have to save seeds too !
Yup, growing opium/somniferum poppies is illegal in the US. :( And being the excessively law-abiding person I am (I never cut class in high school, either. Not once.), that means I don't grow them, though I think the law is incredibly silly and I think the poppies are beautiful.
But some of the various legal kinds of poppies are beautiful, too, so I satisfy myself with them. And the Oriental poppies, once they're settled in and happy, get bigger and bloom more spectacularly every year, and are no trouble at all, and have nice foliage during much of the year. The only down side is the shortness of the bloom period - I think of them as being like peonies, in that both have a brief period of spectacular bloom.
Burnet
I ,too , am a law abiding citizen. I set my cruise control at EXACTLY the maximum speed and won't go over it, things like that. I drive my hubby nuts. But with the poppies - someone gave me the seeds and I was looking at them in my hand one day and along came a big gush of wind and.........
Libby
LOL Libby, too true. You never know about those windy days.
While I agree and understand the main reason for such a law,
it is laughable when they take the time to throw Mrs. Blevins in jail for
growing a beautiful flower.
She's 78 years old and her garden is the talk of the town, but she's a
common criminal because SOMEONE might do something bad with
her blooms.
What a world we live in.
I don't know about Mrs Blevins. Is she a famous person???? Is this something I need to be worried about??? Did they REALLY jail her?
Last night I noticed a small bud on my Turkenlouis poppy! It's about time!!