How To Grow Decorative Poppies From Seeds? When To Plant? Planting And Leaving. Photo

Colorful symbols of summer, quivering, gentle, and at the same time so hardy, decorative poppies, leave no one indifferent. The inimitable colors and details of the structure of these amazing flowers are a constant decoration of any garden in summer. But the cultivation of decorative poppies is not quite a standard task, although not difficult. Poppies are propagated by seed, and the choice of planting methods and methods available allows everyone to find their own ideal option.

The reputation of cultivated, ornamental poppies has suffered greatly from confusion and their association with a species that is punishable by law - sleeping poppy. The most beautiful decorative poppy, the oriental one, which, if it can be grown, then in a limited quantity, as well as several other species, suffered from the legislative ban. But other types of poppies that have nothing to do with opiates and do not contain narcotic substances - flowering annuals, biennials and perennials - for some reason also remain a banned plant. And although there are no fewer admirers of the beauty of poppies, they are still significantly inferior in their distribution to other summer-flowering competitors.

Content:

• Poppy description
• Strategies for growing poppy seeds
• Growing perennial and biennial poppies
• Sowing annual poppy species
• Care of young poppies
• Alternative breeding methods for poppies

Poppy description

Representatives of the genus Poppy (Papaver) are herbaceous perennials, biennials and annuals with a very powerful taproot, strong straight single shoots, and amazing heavily pubescent carved greenery, famous for its filigree silvery-blue texture. Alternately arranged, pinnately dissected, almost prickly to the touch due to the edge, leaves can be up to 30 cm long.

The poppy bloom is a fascinating sight. Drooping buds, as they bloom, erect peduncles and spectacular large saucer flowers with the most beautiful stamens among garden plants are mesmerizing. The calyx consists of two large sepals, and the corolla is easily recognizable by the delicate, almost transparent, quivering four large petals surrounding a delightful "powdered" center of anthers and stamens, usually almost black in color.

Reds, yellows, pinks, oranges, purples and even blues - decorative poppies boast amazingly beautiful shades that inspired legendary painters, today they are only admired. After flowering, fruit pods are tied with beautiful discs at the top, filled with small rounded seeds of different shades of gray.

Without exception, all poppies are propagated by seeds. And annuals - peony poppy, matted poppy or changeable poppy are now ranked among samoseyka poppy, gray poppy, holostem poppy or saffron poppy, peacock poppy; and more durable poppies - Alpine poppy, Amur poppy, Atlantic poppy, Burtsera poppy, Lapland poppy, Miyabe poppy, polar or Scandinavian poppy, grayish poppy or Tien Shan, Tatra poppy - it is best to propagate by seeds. Some vegetative methods are used only for perennial species. It is very easy to grow poppies from seeds as the plant often blooms as early as two months after germination.

Strategies for growing poppy seeds

Poppies are among those herbaceous plants that respond very poorly to transplanting. If possible, they should always be sown directly at the growing site. Poppies are rarely grown through seedlings, usually only when they are going to use the plants as pot or container accents.

Conditions for growing poppies

Poppies, regardless of the type, are light-loving plants, but perennial species can also withstand light shading. Poppies, in theory, are not afraid even of windy areas, but if the plant is not protected from drafts, then its beautiful flowers will quickly fall off. By choosing secluded, warm, sheltered areas, you will stretch the pleasure of watching the magnificent poppies bloom. The soil for poppies can be chosen from any of the cultivated and not moist, but the best flowering is always observed on nutritious soil. There is a place for poppies in mixed beds, flower beds, and in rockeries or rock gardens, and on the lawn.

When choosing a place for poppies in your garden, it is worth remembering that the flowering of this plant is very short: within a month after its start, the fruits ripen, and then the plant will quickly leave the garden scene. Even the best perennial poppies have an average growing season of 100 days. Therefore, poppies need to be planted so that neighboring plants can disguise the unattractive wilting, and then disappearing greenery, or provide for the addition of other seasonal annual stars in place of poppies. The best partners for perennial poppies are delphiniums, cereals, cornflower, yarrow, asters, veronica, oregano and cornflowers.

Growing perennial and biennial poppies

Sowing seeds of perennial and biennial poppies is similar and not difficult. Such poppies are grown:

1. sowing in early spring;
2. sowing before winter.

The latter option is considered preferable, since the plants are stronger and more powerful, develop better and bloom earlier. During spring sowing, young plants will need more careful care, because until the seedlings get stronger, they will already face both heat and droughts, and will not be able to develop normally without watering.

Perennial or biennial poppies can be sown on seedling beds, diving after the appearance of the first or second true leaf to a permanent place, but it is better to sow them immediately at the growing site.

In pre-winter planting, the sowing of poppies is delayed until the last so that the seeds, which germinate quickly enough even in cold soil, do not wake up before the beginning of winter. Even a soil temperature of 3-5 degrees is not suitable: the poppy is sown when the soil has time to freeze in the upper layer, that is, most often in November.

In spring, planting is carried out when the weather permits, the snow will melt and the soil will at least slightly thaw.

The technique of sowing poppy seeds remains the same regardless of the timing of their sowing:

1. The soil is prepared in advance or before planting, digging and loosening the soil. When processing the soil, it is imperative to remove the rhizomes of weeds, apply organic fertilizers and a complete mineral mixture (about 10 kg of organic matter, compost or humus and 40-50 g of mineral fertilizers per square meter of soil).
2. At the sowing site in the fall, they carefully create shallow, only up to 2 - 3 cm deep, grooves or rows. Spring sowing can be carried out both in grooves and superficially.
3. Poppy seeds are spread at a considerable distance from each other (from 5 to 20 cm) so that the plants do not need to be thinned out.
4. From above, podzimny crops are covered with soil, making sure that they do not go too deep. When sowing in spring, the seeds are not covered or covered with a light layer of soil, a film to accelerate germination, and the procedure is completed with watering.
5. After spring sowing, a stable soil moisture must be maintained for 2 weeks and make sure that the film is removed immediately when shoots appear.

Seeds sown in autumn will germinate in spring, as soon as the soil warms up to 3-5 degrees, spring sowing can be expected in 10-20 days. Even young plants are frost-resistant, but if frosts exceed 5 degrees below zero, then it is better to additionally protect spring crops with non-woven materials.

If the sowing was carried out densely, then the seedlings are thinned out twice - first, at a distance of 10 cm between the plants, and then at 20 cm.

Sowing annual poppy species

One-year-old poppies are sown in the fall before winter or in early spring, as early as possible, depending on the weather - from March for the southern regions, until May - for the middle lane. Sowing is carried out in rows, not deeply deepening. Seedlings will appear in 1-2 weeks. They are immediately thinned out, leaving the plants at a distance of about 20 cm. It is better to immediately sow rather rarely, spreading the seeds at a distance of 10 cm.

Care of young poppies

Poppies are drought-tolerant, hardy and generally unpretentious plants. One point of care is very important for young seedlings, and even for adult poppies - timely weeding, since poppies will not be able to compete with other aggressive plants.

If the sowing was carried out in the spring, then before the period when the plants get stronger, they need to be protected from drought. Both sown poppies in the fall and adult poppies in the active growing season respond well to additional watering, but the main thing with moisture is not to overdo it, just by providing protection from drought. If the plants are very tall or the area is windy, then it is better to tie the stems to the supports as they grow.

In the first winter, there is no need to cover young poppies.

Also, decorative poppies need other points of care:

• loosening the soil;
• top dressing (at least one spring or 2-3 top dressing per season)

Alternative breeding methods for poppies

All poppies - both annuals and perennials - are self-seeding, and this ability can be used for "improvisation", creating natural accents and unexpected blooming spots. If you do not want the poppy to appear in unexpected places and "migrate" around the garden, or you just want to limit the amount of self-seeding in annual poppies that are very generous in terms of this indicator, then you need to remove the seed pods before they ripen and scatter seeds, which scatter surprisingly easily from holes under the disc at the top of the fruit.

You can often see information that poppies divide and rejuvenate, and for perennial species it is even recommended to dig up and divide plants with a frequency of 1 every 3 years. But the transplantation of poppies is very poorly tolerated and it is allowed to be carried out in exceptional cases when the plants are threatened with death. This is not a genuine separation, but the separation of lateral rosettes and shoots that appear not only in spring but also at the end of summer. Such children take root for a very long time and it is difficult, but this is still an acceptable breeding method.

Today, it is increasingly decided to propagate poppies with green and root cuttings; root cuttings are found on sale along with seed bags and in botanical gardens. Root cuttings are cut from taproots, dividing them into pieces 4-5 cm long and at least 5 mm thick. After processing the cuts with crushed coal, they are dried, and then the cuttings are planted, leaving 1/3 above the soil for rooting. Under a hood, with a stable humidity, plants quickly give tiny rosettes. After rooting and sprouting, the cuttings can be transplanted to a permanent place. Green cuttings are cut from lateral, weak shoots that develop on plants in late summer. They are rooted under a hood in a constantly damp substrate.