My favorite pink. If you grow it, could I have seeds?
Of all the species in the Papaver genus, I think I like peony poppies the best. Perhaps you know them by a different name, for they are also called lettuce leaf poppies, bread seed poppies, and opium poppies. Yes, that opium.
I was just reading about them on Wikipedia and discovered they have sub-groups. I prefer the ones that actually look like peonies, such as the soft pink pictured at left. Unfortunately, I no longer have that one. If you ever see it being sold or have some seed of it you can share, please get in touch.
This is the one I’m growing now, and I don’t like it as much
The one I’m growing now was sold to me as a pink peony-flowered poppy, but this is really from what the Wikipedia article calls the Laciniatum group, “whose flowers are highly double and deeply lobed, to the point of looking like a ruffly pompon.” I don’t want a pompon, and I don’t want coral pink! But try telling that to a catalog copywriter.
You can deadhead these poppies for longer bloom
Cut here (click to enlarge)
These poppies are annuals, but on a well-grown peony poppy, the blossom can be just as large as the perennial Oriental poppy, and they bloom later than their perennial cousins. And most people don’t seem to know that you can deadhead peony poppies to get rebloom. Follow the stem of the spent bloom down to the first set of leaves and cut the stem just above those leaves. In many cases you can see the incipient flower bud forming where the leaf attaches to the stem:
The black arrow points to the small flower bud in the leaf axil. (click to enlarge)
Are they illegal?
I know, hearing them called opium poppies made you a bit nervous, didn’t it? The Wikipedia article that I referred to earlier said that low-morphine varieties are definitely legal. If you buy seeds of breadseed poppies, I think you can be certain you are getting a low-morphine variety. As for the more decorative varieties, if Michael Pollan is correct, ignorance is bliss. Don’t ask, don’t tell. If someone wants to know what they are, they are peony poppies (Papaver paeoniflorum) or (sigh) laciniate poppies (Papaver laciniatum)–and aren’t they beautiful?
How to sow them and grow them
They do best when direct sown. Most gardeners can sow in late fall, and they will sprout in late winter and be ready for business shortly after your bona fide peonies are done blooming. I can sometimes get away with that, but often the seedlings don’t make it. I usually try sowing in late winter or early spring, catching the last dreary snowfall or at least a good hard frost. They seem to need cold to germinate.
They like rich garden soil and plenty of room. The best ones are always those that have been thinned to–okay, I don’t really know how far apart is ideal. All I know is I never thin them enough. I always think, “What if this is one of my long-lost beautiful pink ones?” I try for 6 inches apart but I think it should be more, maybe even double that. Does anyone out there have a good rule of thumb?
It’s not seed buying time, and I hope you don’t forget these when you start flipping through catalogs. But I wanted to tell you about these now, so those of you already growing them don’t miss out on the extra bloom that comes from deadheading. They are the only poppies I know that you can deadhead, so take advantage of it.
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I have these poppies in deep red in the middle of my flower bed. I love how tall the stems grow. I don’t know how my dad did it but he transplanted them from a friend. I’m hoping to get some in the pink variety for next year.
Kathy,
I believe we have the light pink poppy you are seeking, we had a banner year here in Iowa. Must have been all the rain? We live on a century farm here and the peony poppies were here 50 years ago from our Aunt. We are in the process of saving seeds and willing to share with you. We also took photos this year and can email you a few pictures.
Look forward to hearing from you
Chris, they don’t transplant well at all, so everyone grows them from seed sown directly in the garden. I doubt you will find plants for sale anywhere.
i have trouble finding them at nurseries..they just don’t carry them…where can i get live plants?? i live in Oregon west of Eugene
You quoted “I prefer the ones that actually look like peonies, such as the soft pink pictured at left. Unfortunately, I no longer have that one. If you ever see it being sold or have some seed of it you can share, please get in touch.” email me tcl68@yahoo.com If you found them already, I may know where you can get them
Tammy
Twitter: @layanee1
More for ‘the list’! I have always loved the way they look in others’ gardens but have yet to grow them! Thanks for the info.
Your reference to opium makes me laugh, we recently found a marjiana plant growing in our newly acquired house’s front yard in Colorado. My father suggested we just let things grow the first year to see what came up … what a surprise.
Glad to have found someone else dealing with cooler climes.
These are gorgeous poppies. Thank you for the growing info – I think I will add some to my garden next year!
Thanks too for the book. It is a good read …
jodi–I acquired the pink one through the North American Cottage Garden Society (which has since disbanded) seed exchange. The gardener donating the seed said it was a deep pink Oriental poppy and the seed had been obtained from Australia.
I definitely would like to have some of these and hope I remember next spring!
I have red ones, pink ones, almost black ones, some that are slightly tinted with other colour from cross pollinating (I assume.) They freerange everywhere, but I don’t have the pale pink variety you show–mine is a deeper pink and mostly single, but the big red and wine ones are all peony-poppies. We also call them lettuce poppies here in case any neurotic types from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are around. How absurd some bureacrats and bureacracies are!
I love the seedheads as much as the flowers. A neighbor grows them in her garden, and every year I think, I must try some in mine. But I always forget. Maybe next year . . .