The opium poppies growing in a certain fuck-up's garden beds are doing both good and bad as the recent weather is not being nice to them at all. The goddamn Spring winds have so far destroyed ten of my largest and wintered poppies, meaning they were sown mid Winter and survived the frosts. I now only have 60 or so established and wintered poppies that are between 3-6 inches tall thus far, and these are in the dirt patches that I thought nothing but grass or weeds would grow in. However they are the strongest, yet grow much slower. These were ALL sown with regular Supermarket poppy seed. They DO indeed grow so don't believe the propaganda that the seed is sterile.
In the last week I've so far sown over 200 various Somniferums in peat cups filled with coir as the sowing medium, and not sown straight into the soil as I did with the other poppies.
I want to see if this will help improve the chances of survival and growth as snails love them and devour the seedlings. These new somniferum seedlings in the coir are just starting to emerge and the varieties I purchased include: Tasmanian White, Persian White, Drama Queen, Shabby Shaggy Mauve, Double Pink Peony and Scarlet Crimson. These are my opium poppies. Next week I'll be sowing another 200 or so when my next shipment of seeds are delivered, all different strains too.
Not just growing opium poppies, I'm also growing other non opium varieties including mixed California Poppy, Flanders Red Poppy and Mini Picotee Shirley Poppies. Also growing in my garden are Sunflowers, lots of various vegetables, Rhubarb, lots of Succulents, Yucca plants, Cosmos and a few other flowers including Foxglove and Cornflowers.
Spending time in the garden is soothing to my soul and I love my plants, all of them. My cat got told off by me when he sat on a poppy yesterday, thus killing it. I wish he'd keep out of the gardens. Hopefully I shall see my poppies bloom in a few months when Summer hits Down Under. Then the seed collecting will commence, for a late Autumn planting in 2009.
Anyone who grows these things and has any advice on keeping them strong and alive would be so much appreciated. Any gardening tips really for any of the above mentioned flowers, I love to hear the different methods people use to achieve the best.
My regards to all,
Ton
thegayfuckup posted on Sep 21, 2008
| views: 177
Comments
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Fallyn said on Sep 21, 2008....
i have no idea......they grow in our yard and spread....the bigger opium ones....they are now growing in places we don't want them....maybe the climate is different here? -
thegayfuckup said on Sep 22, 2008....
I talked with my dear old seed lady late yesterday and she's having the same problems with the winds here destroying her poppy plants. And she makes money from selling her flower seeds so she's losing valuable dollars with each plant destroyed. I'm losing flowers that I'll never get to see :(
She said expect to lose a fair amount of them in the growing process from bad weather. It's only the opium poppies that cannot tolerate it. The established California Poppies don't seem fazed by he wind. We need more RAIN!
Fallyn, I believe if one wants to curb the spread of opium poppies, then one should rip the plants up/cut at stems straight after the flowers and before the pods swell with seed. That way they can't self sow and have 1000's seeds getting blown about spreading everywhere. Or cut the pods off AS they flower.
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PAPERBACKWRITER said on Sep 23, 2008....
Hiya Ton!
I am bookmarking to follow the thread.
As I have mentioned in a previous blog of yours, my girls loves gardening. But my recurring depression have rendered me helpless most times to be able to cultivate our own garden.
Luckily, my mother in law has a huge garden, where they spend lots of school breaks (one of these days, I will post pictures of them in our garden, and at their granny) and holidays.
There are several SoulCasters that are into gardening... hmmm. I will send them to your blog tonight (just taking a quick peek here atm).
I tagged the blog with the seasons too so it would be shown in related posts (see below) more often and the chances to be viewed goes up a bit.
Warmest regards,
paper ~
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thegayfuckup said on Sep 23, 2008....
Hi PPW, thanks so much, that's great!
I can't wait to post pics, although do I have to use Flickr?
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PAPERBACKWRITER said on Sep 23, 2008....
Hey Ton!
It´s way past my bedtime almost 1 am here in Germany eeeeeeeeeeek) , and I might not make sense so I decided to give you a link of blogs by one of the most helpful blogger here in SC - polarheart....
4newcomers
amongst the blogs is one telling how to post pictures here in SC, which you can either do with Flickr or photobucket... (htmal edit etc)
I hope the links would be helpful.
I have not PMd the SC ladies regarding gardening yet! I will try within this week :)
G´night from my side of the world!
paper ~
p.s.
please call me paper or joanna :)
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