Anyone in the 7b area do well with poppies? I have tried these several times - PAPAVER ORIENTALIS is the variety I keep trying to grow. Like this: http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/PABLS.html
I plant them in a dryish area where I grow lavender (which does very well) - I plant them in the fall - in well draining soil - and I never see them again...
Any hints?
TIA, Sterling - zone 7b
poppies?
I grew a bunch from seed many years ago but the ones I kept died after a year or two (too hot, I think). I also ordered various colored ones in the past which all succumb after a season or two. The extra orange ones I grew from seed I gave to my parents in middle TN. Those poppies are perennial and always come back. That said, I'd try to minimize summer heat if you can or move at least 180 miles north.
Don't even think of meconopsis (Himalayan blue poppy) because I tried them at least 3 times, keeping them on the north side of the house (coolest spot I could think of), but eventually they give up the ghost mid-summer or sooner.
I grow them occassionally as annuals here. I put the seed out in raked soil in Nov. and don't get the best germination so I seed way more than I expect. The plants don't do all that well, a few flowers and then they are gone. A friend around the corner has more luck with red shirley poppies.
GGG
I'm not sure what kind of poppies they are but the entrance to the town Plains, GA was solid red poppies last year. When I say entrance I mean a couple of miles of road. It was absolutely breathtaking! Of course we didn't have a camera.......
The DOT website might list what they use
More than likely they were annual poppies (Shirley probably). The best time to sow would be a few weeks before frost (now through mid October) so that they germinate and winter over - then they put on a great show. Mix the seed with sand and sprinkle them from a salt shaker for best results on raked soil. I hear that poor soil does best as evidenced driving by a lot of roadways that sow them. If you wait until spring to sow then you won't get as good germination and risk losing them all to drought. Larkspur is another good plant to sow at this time. Do not cover, just press them into the raked soil.
hmmm..........I have an area I might be able to plant some in this year, it would make my LH very happy! I'm not sure which he loves better, the flower or just saying "poppies" in a voice from The Wizard of Oz
I have promised him that eventually (ie when I am done with some other less ambitious projects) we will plant wildflowers and poppies all the way down one side of our long, skinny, property- the back side that is all road and ditch. Since the city "maintains" it (HA!!!!) I will probably need to let them know, too.
I bought 10,000 poppy seeds on eBay last year but sowed them late this year (May). Then we got the drought and not a one came up. I'm ready to try it again.
I tried growing poppies for years with dismal results, then one year while walking to class at GT, it dawned on me that they had poppies on several patches and the soil was really poor. Hmmm. Then I read somewhere that in the South, you should sow them in the fall. That did the trick.
A lot of advice for planting seems geared for the North. I lost several peonies by following the planting advice on the bag (4 to 6 inches deep), then read in Southern Living or some other magazine that in the South, you should plant peonies 1 inch below the soil or less. I found that most of the eyes are at ground level here in GA. That worked great.
I planted 1 manhattan poppy and 2 pattys plum poppies last year. I think I got them from krazykeiths and the pattys plum was absolutely beautiful. the manhattan didnt make it. they were planted just under the overhang of my barn facing west. I was really surprised that they bloomed the first year. Of course I took the barn down and i had to transplant them into a container. I doubt they will bloom this year, but i might get lucky.