How to Grow Poppy Plants
Poppies are one of the most eye-catching garden flowers. Knowing how to grow poppy seeds will ensure they live for many years in your garden. What is the perfect way to find the dried poppy heads for sale?
The majority of poppies are grown from seed. However, poppies also self-seed, so you’ll have more and more to enjoy each year.
Planting Poppies from Seeds
Start your poppy seeds by scattering them outside in the fall or very early in the spring. Spread them sparingly, or you’ll have to thin them later. Because the seed requires light to germinate, do not bury it. The source also prefers a cold spell, so sow in late autumn before the cold weather arrives or in early spring.
The cold weather will give way to warm spring sunshine in early spring, and the seeds will receive enough moisture to germinate. It is best to sow the source in the fall or during the most incredible months in warmer climates with mild winters. The authority will remain dormant until the weather begins to warm. It only takes a few weeks for germination to bloom, and the late spring show will be spectacular.
Grow the poppies in full sun and well-drained soil to avoid waterlogging and keeling over. Ensure to thoroughly amend the area with compost to provide plenty of nutrients to the plants and help with poor drainage. Use slug and snail bait because those critters love to eat the tiny shoots as they emerge.
Poppies thrive in the middle of a perennial border because they are taller than many edging plants. Because oriental varieties die down after blooming, the space they leave in the garden is not noticed. Fill in the gaps with other summer perennials like phlox or salvias if planted in the middle of the park. Likewise, summer annuals could be planted in the holes before a garden bed.
After flowering, the poppies produce an equally attractive flower head with heavy black, brown, grey, blue, or white seeds. These will fall around the mother plant, giving you more poppies for the following year.
Alternatively, the seed head can be harvested for fall crafts because it dries beautifully and holds its shape. Some seeds, like the annual bread seed poppy ‘Papaver somniferum seeds,’ are edible and can be used in cakes, bread, and other recipes.
Different Poppy Seed Varieties
There are several basic types of poppy seeds, all grown similarly.
Oriental Poppy Seeds – The most common type of poppy seed, available in reds, oranges, purples, and whites. Perennial.
Spectacular, fully double flower in reds, oranges, purples, and white. Annual.
Meconopsis Poppies are sometimes called blue poppies but also come in reds, yellows, purples, and white. Perennial.
Taffeta Poppies – Pretty pastel colors with a feathery flower head. Annual.
Papaver Somniferum seeds – The bread seed poppy is a stunningly beautiful flower in various colors and shapes. Annual.
California Poppies – These are in a different botanical family than the other poppies and are known by the scientific name Eschscholzia. Shorter than species poppies and self-sow to cover a large area in a matter of years.
Grow poppies in your garden for early Spring colorful blooms, whether planting a new garden space or adding to an existing one. Poppies are low-maintenance plants that will brighten your garden year after year. You’ll soon wonder how you ever survived without those Poppy Seeds.
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