abishopfarm

location: Milwuakee, Wisconsin

mood: artistic

Poppies are a very attractive wildflower species with showy flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens. Those that are grown in gardens include large plants used in a mixed herbaceous boarder and small plants that are grown in rock or alpine gardens.The flower color of poppy species include: white, pink, yellow, orange, red and blue; some have dark center markings. The species that have been cultivated for many years also include many other colors ranging from dark solid colors to soft pastel shades. The center of the flower has a whorl of stamens surrounded by a cup- or bowl-shaped collection of four to six petals. Prior to blooming, the petals are crumpled in bud, and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away.

There are a wide variety of annual and perennials that are quite delightful in the garden and if given full sun and well-drained soil (no clay) these plants thrive in the average garden. My welcome invader is an annual – likely Papaver somniferum – the double poppy that is the source of a wonderful tasting seed. I note this variety is also the source of opium but collecting the drug is a complex operation and not easily done.

This June-July blooming species comes in a wide range of colours – from red and pink to white and combinations of wine-red and white. Once planted and allowed to set seed, this plant will pop up here and there seemingly forever; the seeds are very long-lived. .

Corn Poppy (Panaver Rhoeas)  

The Corn Poppy, Field Poppy, Flanders Poppy, or Red Poppy is the wild poppy of agricultural cultivation—Papaver rhoeas. It is a variable annual plant. The four petals are vivid red, most commonly with a black spot at their base. In the northern hemisphere it generally flowers in late spring, but if the weather is warm enough other flowers frequently appear at the beginning of autumn. It has a variety of common names.

It is known to have been associated with agriculture in the Old World since early times. It has most of the characteristics of a successful weed of agriculture. These include an annual lifecycle that fits into that of most cereals, a tolerance of simple weed control methods, the ability to flower and seed itself before the crop is harvested. Like many such weeds, it also shows the tendency to become a crop in its own right; its seed is a moderately useful commodity, and its flower is edible.

Its origin is not known for certain. As with many such plants, the area of origin is often ascribed by Americans to Europe, and by northern Europeans to southern Europe. The European Garden Flora suggests that it is ‘Eurasia and North Africa’; in other words, the lands where agriculture has been practised since the earliest times.

The leaves are mildly poisonous to grazing animals. The seed is harmless and is used sometimes as a condiment. The commonly grown decorative Shirley Poppy is derived from forms of this plant. The commonly used parts of the corn poppy are the seeds (in baking), the fresh green parts as vegetable, and the red petals by making syrups and alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks. Red poppy syrup is a traditional beverage of Mediterranean regions like Bozcaada.

It has had an old symbolism and association with agricultural fertility.

It has become associated with wartime remembrance in the 20th century, especially during Remembrance Day in Commonwealth countries. As poppies bloomed in much of the western front in World War I, poppies are a symbol of military veterans, especially of that war.

Since the poppy symbol is largely associated with Remembrance Day in Canada, the Canadian Mint has released a series of quarters into circulation that have the poppy imprinted on them in the center of the coin.

 Alpine Poppy

Alpine poppies (Papaver alpinum) are shortlived, to the point that they are often regarded as annuals or biennials. It can self-seeds, however, & in optimal conditions will return year after year.

To keep a great many of them going year after year may require occasionally adding seedlings started in coldframes or purchased in started packs, or they'll become fewer with every passing year. They can sometimes be sewn early spring right into the ground, after all danger of frost has passed, with soil kept decently moist throughout the long (three weeks) germination period.

Recommendations vary, as often it is thought to be better to start them in coldframe or greenhouse because many more of the seeds will develop than would occur in situ. On the other hand, they are difficult to transplant without lossing half of them, so starting them in their permanent locations could well be best, with perhaps a removable coldframe or tent until they are well up.

Although it's often said they will flower their first year if started from seed early enough in spring, just as commonly they do not flower until after they've experienced one winter dormancy. One reason to start them in greenhouses, despite the losses from their susceptibility to transplant shock, is to get a headstart on spring & so improve the odds of summer blossoms the first year.

They are an Old World poppy native to high mountains of Central Europe, the Balkans, the Pyrannees, & other locations. The isolation of these poppy populations on mountains far distant from one another, a few even restricted to specific islands of alpine lakes, means there are a vast number of variant forms, several of which qualify as subspecies.

As commonly gardened, they are selected hybrids of color variants & subspecies. For examples, P. alpinum ssp. sendtneri is white with a yellow heart; P. alpinum ssp. kerner is bright yellow; P. alpinum ssp ernesti-mayer is white; P. alpinum ssp rhaeticum is light yellow; P. alpinum subsp. dubium is bright red; & so on. Some have one-inch flowers, some open into three-inch discs.

Modern hybrid mixes have been crossbred & crossbred so many times that they can no longer be specifically identified by anything but color. Shown on this page are salmon pink, light yellow, orange with yellow eye, & deep sun-yellow.

Alpine gardeners may be able to get them to perennialize, & can divide clumps every other year to keep them refreshed. Without a dormant cold winter they cannot perennialize. They are nevertheless quite adaptable & though preferring life at high elevations will also flower freely at sea level.

Temperate & cool climates are ideal & they prefer USDA zones 5 through 7, but can often be successfully stretched to zones 3 through 10, being more certainly annuals where they experience extremes. They require full sun.

These miniature poppies rarely stand taller than about eight to ten inches. The fine, slender foliage has a ferny blue-green beauty even when between re-flowerings. They flower from late spring or early summer, with rebloom possible up to autumn.

The flowers are not individually long-lasting, & are too fragile to take for bouquets, but they generate a great many blooms serially so are long present in the garden.

They can be very sensitive & not apt to self-seed & return in conditions that stress them, yet hardy when they find themselves growing in conditions they like. Too much attention will kill them, & sometimes the best results are had from ignoring them. In particular, fertilizing is a bad idea.

They don't like droughtiness & will die to the ground in a hot dry droughty month, but the root doesn't necessarily die, & a clump can return in early autumn when drought conditions improve. Yet at the same time they decline swiftly if overwatered & are especially at risk if soil drains poorly. It is sometimes recommended to place them in gravelly soil & mulch around them with stones to help maximize drainage.

Iceland Poppy

Iceland poppies are native to the northern parts of North America and Asia. Wild varieties have orange or yellow flowers on stems that tend to bend over. Well-bred varieties have strong stems with flowers that come in white, orange, yellow, shades of pink and blends of colors. They have petals that are thin enough that much sunlight gets through making them seem brighter than the usual flower. Sometimes catalogs list them as perennials however given that they don't handle heat very well they're often listed as annuals or biennials. Someone in Edmondton, Alberta, Canada wrote me to say that his poppies last 2-4 years.

The directions I've seen for Iceland Poppies include starting them where they are to grow because "they are difficult to transplant". Unfortunately I've found that you will get few (if any) plants by planting the seeds where they are to grow so I had to do it this way:

Get a pot you can water from the bottom, fill it with dirt, pack it down, sprinkle the poppy seeds on top, sprinkle enough powdery dry soil on top to cover the seeds and keep moist, preferably from the bottom although you can also mist from the top. Iceland poppies sprout in about a week. In hot weather the sprouts may keel over just after coming up so it is best to do this when it is relatively cool, indeed one set of directions said they need about 55F at night. I started with seeds from Park's but now I simply keep seeds from year to year. Because I have a lot of seeds the sprouts are very densely packed in the pot. When they are large enough and the weather is OK (relatively cool and damp) I simply dig out little clumps of the plants, set them in the ground and they do just fine.

They are also easy to start with Park's start cylinders, put a seed on top or inside and they sprout in about a week or two. Stick the cylinders in the ground when you have enough in the way of roots.

Iceland poppies are often listed as perennials but here in zone 5 it is unlikely that they will survive more than one year.

Normally I start them in spring or summer for planting in the fall and then they bloom in the spring and summer although some might bloom right away in the fall. It seems its the heat that does them in so hot spots should be avoided. Keeping the ground cool with mulch may help keep them going. Iceland poppies like poor graveley soil however we don't have that kind of soil around here and I've never gone to the trouble of making some up. This may be a factor in why I lose mine so quickly.

The natural colors of Iceland poppies are red and yellow and if you keep seeds from year to year you will lose the pink, white, light orange and light yellow colors so save seeds only from these recessive colors. Mark the seed heads you want to save seeds from by putting a twist tie around the stem. Sometimes I use a tiny paintbrush to hand pollinate specific colors. Harvest seeds when openings develop at the top of the seed pod. Seeds only seem to be viable for a little over a year.

Aside from it's natural brilliant orange-scarlet, since, the later 19th century selective breeding for gradens has created a range of colors from a clean white eggplant-black blotches ("Barr's White" is the standard against which other whites are measured), through clear true pinks and salmon to a deep maroon.

Oriental poppies throw up a mound of handsome, finely cut hairy foilage in spring. After flowering the foailage dies away entirely, a property that allows their survival in summer drought of Central Asia.  Late-developing plants should be planted nearby to fill the developing gap. Fresh leaves appear with autumn rains. 

My invader definitely isn’t the Oriental poppy P. orientale. I do have several varieties of this plant out in the main beds and even though the blooms are short-lived, I manage to spend some time admiring them every summer when they explode into colour. My two favourite are a pale pink that was simply labeled “pink” when I got the seed and a wildly fringed form called ‘Turkenlouis’. Its outrageously fringed petals in shocking red are a sure-fire conversation starter.

Another called ‘Patty’s Plum’ (a plum-purple) is now readily available and I might just have to get one of those into my new garden this year. Note that named varieties of Oriental poppies rarely come true from seed and the easiest way to get new plants is division or root cuttings.

Propagation

I have started more of these plants in my nursery life than I want to admit to and if you follow a few easy rules, you’ll have lots of success with this plant. To begin with, if you are starting them indoors plan on starting them six to eight weeks before the last frost. Let me tell you that you can plant them directly in the garden just as easily.

I firm the soil with the back of a shovel or hoe to make a smooth seedbed and then sprinkle the seed over this area. The real trick is not to cover the seed too much. The barest minimum covering you can achieve is correct; all you want to do is have enough soil around the seed to keep it moist.

You do not need to exclude light from the seed as poppy seed benefits from light in its germination process.

Regularly water the seed area with a fine mist nozzle and within two weeks you should see small leaves starting to germinate.

Soil Starting Sterilization

You’ll also see weeds too unless you sterilize the soil before sowing. I recommend you boil up a kettle of water and slowly soak your sowing area with this boiling water *before* sowing. Let the soil cool before sowing.

Containers

The interesting thing for apartment bound gardeners is that this plant also grows well in containers. Add them to any large container for an exotic dash of colour in mid-season. They’ll grow from season to season if protected from winter cold but their short bloom time means they do best when incorporated into a container garden scheme rather than grown by themselves.