When do annual poppies bloom?

I really am starting a cottage garden next year and I wondered when poppies bloom, when they quit blooming, and if I'd have enough time to pull them out and put in something really quick -- like zinnias, after bloom.

I have ALWAYS wanted poppies and this year I'm gonna have 'em or die trying!

Suzy

You can sow poppies every three weeks for continual bloom. I would think you'd have to have the zinnias in early to have bloom once the poppies stop.

Welp, I just realized I put this in the wrong forum -- I was thinking about Cottage Gardens and just slipped it in here with the perennials....guess we do need a Cottage Garden Forum.

I htought poppies had to have a cold weather stratification, so I don't understand the "sow every 3 weeks." Have you done it before?

Suzy

Me too on the poppies. I have pictures from last spring, showing poppies blooming at the DBG on 06/04, simultaneously with the bearded iris in the Monet Garden. I don't know if they were the perennial variety or not, or if that makes a difference. I got lots of the peony-flowered poppies for next spring, and I'm hoping they will bloom mid to late-may here.

annual poppies (including the peony -flowered) can supposedly be staged like that.

Right. If you let them reseed, they'll all come up at the same time next year. Some people pull the annuals after flowering and sow new every year.

beaker_ch,
When you WS the poppies, say you sow some on the 21st of Dec then again 3 weeks later and again in another three weeks, would that work?

cg

Hi Greenjay -- The poppies in your photo are perennial -- not sure if that makes any difference to your scheme or not. All I know is the annual poppies bloom with the annuals larkspur -- I just don't know when that is :)

I'm interested in the answer to Connie's question, too!

Suzy

I sow two crops of California poppy each year...late Fall and Early Spring.

My first peak is the third week in May and continues until end June. If I cut back the plants, I get a smaller rebloom in August.

ROX

CG, no, I don't think that would work. They would all still probably germinate at the same time once the weather got warm enough. The subsequent sowings would be direct into the garden.

Hi Rox! Thanks for that info. I only have a very few california poppy seeds, and I forgot there is more than one kind of annual poppy. Guess I should have specified Corn, opium & Shirley.

Beaker, then when do you do this "every three week sowing?" to spread out the bloom time?
Jan, Feb, Mar? I htought they were supposed to freeze multiple times.

Suzy

I think some of you have misconceptions about winter sowing.

Point 1: Some of the larger seeds like Mirabilis jalapa and Morning Glories may benefit from freeze/thaw cycles and could be planted in January. Other smaller, quick germinating seed like poppies, may not survive if planted in January unless the containers stay frozen until spring. If your area tends to get spells warm enough to cause germination followed by freezing weather, then the plants that germinated will not survive.

Point 2: If you sow seeds of the same kind in Jan, Feb, and March, and should they stay frozen until spring, they will all germinate at the same time.

Point 3: It's important to understand the weather in your growing zone. If you typically have extended mid-winter thaws, you may want to start your wintersowing later rather than sooner.

Point 4: Mother Nature is never consistent; constant, but never consistent. What worked last year may not work this year. Therefore, if you do WS early, you may want to save some seed for later in the season just in case there is a mid-winter thaw that causes germination.

As far as successive sowings of poppies goes, this refers to poppies sowed directly into the garden during warm weather. Your initial batch could be winter sowed, but thereafter, it would be directly into the garden. Hopefully, this all makes sense.

I don't plan to wintersow ANY of my poppies this year. Previous years all the direct sown poppies got eaten up by hungry birds before they could germinate. This year I will get them started inside under lights, acclimate slowly under cover outside, and plant in late April.

OIC -- Everybody in wintersowing sows them, and I had always heard locally to throw the seed out on the snow in late winter. Somehow that translated in my brain to them needing some cold to germinate. I see in the plant files there are entries for some poppies to direct sow after all danger of frost, which I had never seen before. Interesting. As I said, I have never been able to grow them and in fact I never knew they were supposed to be quick germinating -- because they never have germinated here! LOL!

Thanks, Beaker
Suzy

But Greenjay! Everybody wintersows poppies (to hear them tell it over in WS) Then they transplant the hunks of seedlings -- are you saying that doesn't work for you? I hate to whine, but I really want some poppies and they make it sound so easy. I was getting so excited thinking this was going to be the year for sure!

The truth is I have been trading seeds left and right for poppies. I always thought my problem was I didn't have enough seeds -- one or two packs, but when you look inside there are so few seeds to a commercial pack. Now I have millions of seeds and I will have poppies! I have no idea which color(s) will germinate, grow, and bloom, but there isn't a color made that I don't have seed for LOL!

If I had to put these under lights, I'm not even sure how I'd do it....I truly have a million seeds and 2 fluorescent bulbs. Dangit! Greenjay, can you tell me your method in case I need a backup? Maybe I can wintersow some, direct sow some and then sow some uner lights...hey! There's my staggered sowing right there!

Suzy

Well if everybody was leaping over cliffs w/out helmets, would you do it too? LOL

I do wintersow things that verifiably need or thrive on that kind of stratification, esp. perennials that take > 1 year to develop to blooming maturity. In Colorado we have a greatly shortened growing season, so anything that should bloom the first year ( like poppies, penstemon, etc.) gets started under lights sufficiently in advance so I can get them into the garden last week of may. Yes, our last frost date is May 30.

Some years ago I was given a big envelope of poppy seed ( dont know type now but one of the annuals that readily self seeds) and when I asked best time to plant them ( this was in Sept or Oct when she was harvesting seed) she said (words to this effect)
Sometime in February when it seems winter will never end and you are suffering from cabin fever take the seeds and go out into the yard an flong the seeds around by the handful! You will have lovely poppies that summer.
I did and I did!

carolvan

I remember reading that somewhere in another thread :o)
Thanks for letting us know it worked...
cg

Those of us here in the south have to throw our seeds out in the fall. I usually do mine in Nov. We just don't have much "cold "weather ( it is to me but ya'll would laugh about it being called cold ! ) and it sure helps to put them out this time of the year.

See. All this conficting advice. They either need a cold spell or they germinate in the cold weather and are frost hardy or they don't, and they aren't. Or they are both. LOL!

Let me just say I have thrown them out in the fall, the winter, the early spring, on top of snow, and just last year in JUNE & JULY! In fact, the only months I havent thrown them out is Aug or September! I have never had a single one germinate, much less bloom. Not one! (And before you ask, poppies are known to be long storing seeds, but usually the seeds were fresh, anyway.)

Apologies to the perennial people -- yes, I know this thread should have been put onthe annuals forum. The Cottage Garden threads got me confused.

Suzy

You can always ask the admins to have it moved.

I've been following this wondering when I should put out my poppy seeds too. Now I think things are as clear as mud. ;o)

Well I used to have a poppy bed outside my back fence by my parking pad - I used Shirley poppies. I never had to seed the bed providing the poppies were able to go to seed and drop their seed which would usually happen in Sept and October.A couple of years they were battered by rain and hail and no seed so then I sowed fresh but if I had to buy it I sowed in the spring. It is now converted to a Sweet William bed!

carolvan

Mgh~" clear as mud" LOL, and to think I grew Iceland poppies without a care where I lived before. I was following this thread too, hoping I could glean a few insights cause none of the poppies.. nada.. zilch... zero germinated for me either! ;0)

I started my iceland poppies in AUGUST this year, just to be sure they would get established in the ground before bad weather. They are poking along now in a north-facing flowerbed. I expect them to do really well this year, in fact.

greenjay~ when you say started , can you give more detail as to what you actually did? It would be an absolute delight to grow iceland poppies here successfully. Thanks! ;0)

Hi Ladies, sorry if I caused any confusion. And, of course, that confusion is being caused because what works for me in zone 4 probably will not work in the warmer climates.

Poppies are very easy to winter sow, you just need to find out the best time to do that in your zone. May I suggest you ask around on your regional forums. I can see the birds getting seed if you are direct sowing. It might help if you lightly rake the area afterwards. Birds should not be able to get to seed that has been winter sowed in containers.

As far as needing a cold spell to germinate, they don't. What winter sowing buys you is a head start over direct sowing by two or three weeks. You also get hardier plants and a better germination rate.

Suzy, I have lotz of Flanders Fields Poppy seed and could send you some. Let me know or for that matter, if anyone wants some, there's plenty to go around.

Thank you Beaker, but after the snafu this past spring with the poppies, I just don't know! It went from chilly Spring to Summer in May and not one poppy on the scene!

Garden, winter sowing generally has a very high germination rate. If you haven't tried this technique, you should check it out.

Beaker~ Thanks, I'm trying WS this year, it's my first time and I'm definitely looking forward to it, and poppies are on the list. ;0)

I have some 6" high plants I started this summer - I wonder if they'll live through the winter. They're different kinds. I thought I'd get a jump on fall sowing LOL. I'm going to plant some more this fall, and winter sow still more. If I don't have any flowers next year, I'll use the rest of the seed for muffins or something

Ok, I know I could look in the PF for this, but I'm gonna be lazy and just ask: What are all the different kinds of poppies and are they annuals or perennials? I have no idea what kind of seeds I have, but I know that if I put it out now it will just be washed away. We have had soooo much rain! I think I will wait till January or February. How does that sound?

There's 118 Papavers in PlantFiles, 26 different species. Lots of annuals AND perennials

And you're not going to name them all for me??? LOL

Noooope: http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=papaver&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Thanks for the link, claypa, but I still think you should have listed all the names for me. LOL

I see that one of the ones I have seed for is a perennial and it says to direct sow after the last frost, so that is what I will do.

Thank you again, claypa.

As I recall I followed my usual routine -- put seeds in moist germination mix, cover flats w/clean (as in sterilized ) plexiglass or sheets of rigid plastic until germination is evident, then remove plastic gradually over several days. By that time the seeds should be poking up. Lights should be no more than 4" above the tops of the leaves. As I recall I started them at the same time as some marigolds, and they both came up in less than 7 days.

I kept them under lights for about 45 days, or until they had several "real leaves, then gradually acclimated them outdoors (1 week) and planted them in a new raised bed with iris and tulips and my new Wild Blue Yonder grandiflora roses. ( not that the roses make a difference, but it is worth noting that roses and poppies go well together!)

After 2 snows, the leaves of the poppies are green and hanging in there without damage. I do not water anything after 10/1 -- they have to make it on what falls from the sky until April.

Greenjay & Claypa, If you remember next year, send some pictures of the flowers & the setting and remind us when & how you sowed them!

mgh - I can't grow perennial poppies here -- they get too much water (and not enough sun) at exactly the wrong time and I mulch too heavily for them. Even though my soil is free draining, they rot. On the otherhand, they have hairy leaves with stickers on them and go dormant in the hot weather, so I never cared enough to make a place more to their liking.

Beaker, thanks for the offer! Can I take a rain check on the FF poppies? I have a million seeds...if they bloom just once, I feel like I can keep them going. BUT if I have to start from scratch again next yeat, I'll have to start a collection again, and I will definitley hit you up for some. I will be very crabby if the only ones that bloom are purple doubles or something. The FF poppies are really the ones I want to get going the most.

garden, I have had the same troubles. I just can't get them started. I have seen posts perople who can't get cleome going and I wonder what is wrong with them that they can't get a weed like cleome going. LOL! Then I remember -- I was given literally, a pickle jar 1/2 full of seed to start with. There must be some sort of "mutual stimulation" -- and I swear that is a scientific term -- for some of these seeds we all, okay some of us, are having trouble with.

You know what Beaker, after I just wrote that about the pickle jar of cleome seeds, yes, please, may I send you a SASE for the poppy seeds? I think there is success in numbers of seeds sown on this plant. I might need all the help I can get!

Suzy



This message was edited Nov 7, 2006 12:59 AM

Beaker, is this the poppy you are talking about? http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55305/index.html Ok, don't laugh, like I said I don't know anything about poppies except that I like them. Do these come in different colors and if so, what color/s do you have? I would like some seeds too, if that is ok.
Thank you,
Mendy

I can answer part of that...that is the color of the poppies in Flander's Field.

The other kinds of annual poppies are the little short California poppies. About a foot high in shades of yellow and orange and more recently pink. Shaped like chalices, I think they bloom for a longer period of time, or later into the summer or something.

The other ones are the corn & opium & Shirley poppies. I don't know the difference between the 3 kinds, exactly, but I think the foliage looks like cabbage (sort of). They come in all colors except blue, so wine, purple, red, white, pink, yellow, orange and red-orange and coral. Those would be bright, then step all those colors down to make them pastels, and they come in those colors, too. Then you can double the petals to make doubles and triple the petals to make peony-types. You can shred the edges, too. Gee, sounds like dahlias, doesn't it? LOL!

When it comes to poppies, I think some of the older gardeners I know who grew them when I was first starting out were growing opium poppies, but were too embarrassed to tell me or maybe they didn't know. So I was looking allllll over for these poppies to get more seed (the old folks would give me a thimble full of seed and I wanted to buy it by the pound after the first couple of years of trying to have them and not getting germiation, but I could never figure out what kind of poppies they were until DG.)

I am so excited about this. I really feel like I will have them bloom next year -- and I have literally been trying since 1981 or 1982 when I first saw them in person.

Suzy

Ok, so what is the opium poppy kind? Thank you for all the other info though.......I truly do appreciate it. Yes, very much like dahlias, except I seem to understand them better. LOL

I saw a blue poppy last year at Daisyruffles' neighbor's house. It was beautiful!! She only had one so I didn't feel I should ask for seed. Showing my ignorance again.....is a blue poppy rare?