Papaver nudicaule seed
Iceland Poppy, Papaver Nudicaule. This biennial self-seeds reliably, finding the places where it likes to grow, so that you will have flowers year after year. Like most self-sown poppies, it tends to appear in broken or newly dug ground. Poppies make striking, sunlit accents in the Vegetable garden (in our garden, they like the strawberry patch.) Our mixture includes solid orange, yellow, and white flowers, as well as intermediate shades (white with an orange or yellow blush). Plants will bloom from spring through late summer. Cutting off finished stems may promote further blooming. Cut, don’t pull, the stems, as the leaf rosettes detach easily from the crown.
Seeds of these hardy perennials/biennials are collected in 2018 & 2017 from the plants shown, grown in Edmonton, Canada, zone 3 (to -35C). All of these plants grow well in full sun or light shade in ordinary garden soil. They grow best where the soil is deeply dug, quick-draining and nutrient-rich.
Stored cool and dry, seeds can remain viable for several years.
Poppy seeds germinate in two weeks at room temperature. Sow thinly in trays or sow two or three seeds to a cell or peat pellet. Press seeds into moist potting mix. Do not bury the seeds, except with a thin layer of sand. Keep moist.
Small poppy seedlings can be tricky to transplant. If potting seedlings, do so when they are large enough to lift by the leaves; dig up carefully, keeping as much soil as possible with the roots. Keep transplants watered and out of direct sun until they are growing again.
Move small plants into the garden on a cloudy day, and/or erect a shade or screen (e.g. a tomato cage covered with a towel) to protect them from drying heat until they are settled and showing new growth. Larger pot-grown plants can be transplanted relatively easily.
Iceland poppies can be started in pots or sown directly into the garden. If started early enough, they may Flower in the first year, but, being a biennial, they will typically produce a rosette of leaves in the first year and flowers in the second.
Iceland is a very long lasting cut flower. A hardy perennial in flower gardens. Either way, they self sow readily, so will last for years at a time. The large, cup shaped blooms have a texture like crepe paper and appear in a range of beautiful colors.
Growing Iceland poppies in the spring bed is a great way to add delicate foliage and long-lasting flowers to the area. When planted in the right spot, the Iceland poppy plant blooms from May through July.
Plant seeds of the Iceland poppy plant in fall or spring. seed directly into the flower bed that will be the permanent location of the Iceland poppy flower, as growing Iceland poppies do not transplant well. There is no need to cover the seeds; the Iceland poppy plant needs light to germinate in spring. Mark the area, if necessary, so you don’t mistake the spring foliage for a weed.
