![]() They thrive in full sun in rich, well-drained soil. Poppies generally flower in late spring to early summer. These easy-to-grow plants are also simple to propagate from seed. Poppies have a bad reputation as part of the opium trade, but for gardeners, they are simply lovely papery blooms in brilliant colors. Who among us hasn’t had a wonderful lemon or almond poppy seed muffin? The delicate seeds impart a rich flavor and gentle crunch that adds unique dimension to baked goods. This indicates it is almost time for a poppy seed harvest, either for culinary use or just to continue the plants into the next year. It is a rather fun project, too, as you wait until the large pod starts to rattle. Saving poppy seeds will help perpetuate the colorful plants for years to come. There are plenty of other gorgeous poppy species that thrive in a variety of conditions. These tiny flavorful seeds come from the beautiful poppy flower, Papaver somniferum. ![]() A place that’s cool, dry, and dark is the ideal place to store your seeds.Poppy seeds add crunch and flavor to many types of baked goods. Keep the bag and pods away from direct sunlight and any environments that tend towards hot or humid. The dry pods can be stored, whole, in brown paper bags until you’re ready to harvest the seeds. Some poppy seed pods have little holes at the top where seeds can escape, so be careful not to turn the seed pod upside-down! In the case of those small-pod poppies, just wait until the pods dry, and then harvest.Īt this point, snap or snip it off the plant- which, itself, at this point, is likely also dried and brown. This applies most strongly to the large-podded poppy varieties: poppies that produce smaller pods may not make audible sound. If you shake the pod, you should hear the seeds within rattling softly around. If you decide you want to save your seeds for next year, poppies make everything easy for you!Īll you have to do is leave that seed-pod on the plant until it’s dried and brown. Some varieties may take less or more time to sprout. The seeds should germinate in 2-3 weeks after sowing. Some climates may be able to get away with every other day. You will want to water the seeds daily until germination so they don’t dry out. We don’t want that! Just gently mist them until the soil and seeds are well-soaked. However, it is vital not to cover the seeds- they are light-dependent germinators, so seeds that get too covered won’t germinate! Soak the soilįollow sowing and (optional) tamping with watering the seeds well- but carefully! Strong blasts of water can push around the seeds and wash them away, sometimes displacing soil enough to cover them. Tamping in the seeds with your fingers or carefully walking across them can help tamp down the seeds to get better contact with the soil. You may wish to mix your seeds with sand- this is a common trick to use with very fine, tiny seeds, as it helps space the seeds out further from each other, and the color of the sand against the soil assists the gardener in seeing where seeds have already been sown. To sow poppy seeds, simply scatter them across a patch of raked soil. Poppies thrive in conditions than many other plants would consider harsh. Poppies, like other plants that can self-sow themselves year after year, really don’t need to be coddled. We’ve had great results planting in our naturally red clay garden soil without any added fertilizers. It’s very unlikely that you will need to fertilize your poppy plants. ![]() Poppies don’t mind dry soil, once they’re no longer fragile little seedlings! Fertilizer ![]() Once they are established, you will likely not have to water them at all, unless you are experiencing a period of extreme drought. Overwintered seeds often handle themselves just fine with rainwater, but it doesn’t hurt to offer an extra shower or two if you’re worried. ![]() Watering must be done with care when the seeds and sprouts are small- a mister attachment at the end of a garden hose is ideal- and with frequency until the seedlings have germinated. While many guides recommend moderately rich and loose soil, we’ve scattered poppy seeds on roughed-up clay soil more than once and had lovely results. Just about any soil will most likely be fine to poppy seeds upon, as long as it drains well (this means it isn’t a soggy swamp all the time). Poppies show off their best blooms when planted in full sun- this means 6+ hours of direct sunlight a day. ![]()
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