About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
If that is so, I would find some way to mark them. I am not 100% sure my Oriental poppies are above ground in August.
I had oriental poppies like this at my grandmother’s house and have tried repeatly to transplant some to our new home with no luck. I have tried to plant the entire plant ( wilts before I can even get it in the ground) I’ve tried seeds (no luck) I’ve tried differant times of the year, with and without lots of soil around the roots, I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong…..HELP! I live in northeastern PA. transplanting from sandy soil to heavy clay that doesn’t drain well.
I have managed to do it, but I was only moving a plant from one part of my yard to the other. I have clay soil, too. I amend all my flower beds with organic matter such as well rotted manure or compost. It is still clay soil, but there is no standing water after a good soaking rain. They will rot in standing water. Oriental poppies slowly go dormant after they bloom, and then send up new foliage in the fall. I would try to dig them up as they are going dormant. Keep the roots wrapped in damp newspaper for the trip to your house, and plant as soon as you get home. (That means you already have their new home prepared, obviously.) Water only if you see other plants in your garden wilting. Don’t be too upset if you see the poppies wilting and even dying back. They naturally go dormant anyway. You will know you’ve succeeded if they put up new foliage in autumn, but they may wait until the following spring. It’s awful hard to get the entire root, but I don’t think you need to. Nurserymen propagate poppies from root cuttings–just a piece of the root. If my method doesn’t work for you, investigate root cuttings.
thanks, I will try it again. I snooped around on the web a bit after I post this and learned that August seems to be the month they recommend to transplant poppies.