I had great expectations for this plant. I imagined making my own poppy seed bread and lemon poppy seed muffins when I placed my order with Seeds of Change. The flowers are quite beautiful alone and the fact that the seeds are edible topped the cake for me. In fact I have always wanted to grow these but never have gotten around to it until this year.
I sowed the seeds months ago and anxiously awaited their germination. Their germination was, to put it nicely, horrible. I don’t really know why either. For whatever reasons only three spindly little seedlings made it big enough to flower. They were rather sad looking little plants but they did bloom and their flowers did not disappoint as their above pictures show. I was able to save some of their seed. Certainly not enough for any kind of bread baking but enough to possibly try again next year which is what I most definitely plan on doing.
The Breadseed Poppy had some problems this year. Cynthia did too. But there are seeds of hope, for the flower and for Cynthia….it will be better next year for all. There’s just too much beauty in both for it not to happen.
Thank you so much Granny. That was just the sweetest comment I have ever gotten. I am actually speechless right now. I am so hoping that next year will be better. Thank you again… -Cynthia
Well, maybe you could sprinkle a few on a teeny tiny gnome-size muffin and then save the rest for next year.
That way you could say you used them for baking, at least!
I like that idea Karen! A teeny tiny muffin for one- me!
-Cynthia
Poppies are notoriously hard to germinate – they need a certain temperature and moisture – particularly the more specialised ones so I wouldnt be disheartened and maybe next year you will have more success. Despite advice I have had some luck in germinating them in pots and then transplanting so maybe you could try this as a back up
I must say I agree that they are hard to germinate. They need to make the seed packet bigger as so few did actually make it. I let to seed heads drop their seeds so I am hoping *maybe* some will come up on their own. I can hope at least! -Cynthia
That is such a pretty flower. I hope it works out a little better next year.
Hi Daphne,
It is beautiful enough to grow just for the flower alone. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for next year! -Cynthia
Naturally, I was very enchanted with all of the historic literature and poetry associated with the beautiful poppy, but after the Key lime seed bust and reading a very long article about a man who grew P. Somniferum and had a dreams of police raiding his home, immediately after he planted the seeds. I am unwilling to go anywhere near Somniferum. I think I’d like to try Anemones, maybe the Japanese Anemone hupehensis, instead, as they have similar graceful pendulant buds. If only I lived in a more secluded area…
I have often wondered about this issue with the Breadseed poppy. But when I saw them for sale at Seeds of Change I decided to go ahead and buy them and try them out. I don’t believe I have anything to worry about growing a few here and there in my veggie garden. Now maybe if I turned my whole yard into one big Poppy field…..that might be another story! -Cynthia
The great thing about gardening is that if something doesn’t work out there is always next year to try try again. Better luck next season with your poppies.
You are very right Racquel. But sometimes I wish I had more patience to wait for next year!
-Cynthia
Too bad you didn’t get a good poppy seed harvest!
I was so excited to find your blog…I grew up in the Northwest (Port Angeles area) but right now I’m preparing to move to Kentucky where the soil is sticky icky clay and rocks! But I’m looking forward to a gardening adventure!
Hi Rita,
Good luck with your move. I’m sure you will enjoy your adventure as you learn how to garden in the new climate. – Cynthia
I’m happy you found my blog too!
If these are anything like the red oriental poppies, they spread like crazy, so hopefully, next year will bring more blooms and more seeds. They certainly are pretty!
Hi Nancy,
I hope they reseed at least a little bit for me. Sometimes plants do better for me when they are allowed to come up as they please (hence my comsos!) -Cynthia
I was going to post my experience with poppies, but it got so long I decided to blog about it instead! stay tuned
I’m looking forward to reading that post Granny. I will head on over to your site after finishing up on the comments over here!
-Cynthia
I LOVE that next to last photo. At least some of yours came up. I had whole seed packets that never did a thing. What a bummer.
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
So, maybe they are a little finicky when it comes to germinating then? Maybe we both will have better luck next year! -Cynthia
What a great tip for growing!! We’re definitely going to put this one on our list of pollinator attractors next year. The edible seeds will definitely come in handy in Jason’s baking. We had some other poppies last year that just went wild in the garden. This year, we’re still getting volunteers all over the place out there. Again… thanks for the tip!! Can’t wait!
Hi Shibaguyz,
I hope a few of the seeds that fell volunteer themselves next year. I will be very happy if they do! Good luck with growing some next year. I love flowers that are also useful! 
-Cynthia
I’m glad you enjoyed this post!
Cynthia,
Have you ever thought about giving them a try by the ‘wintersowing’ method? Worked great for me with poppies. Here are a couple links for some info on how. It’s easy, and works a peach!
http://www.wintersown.org/
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/wtrsow/
Hi Tina!
-Cynthia
Thanks so much for this tip. I’ll have to remember to try this out. Maybe I’ll get lucky and some of the seeds that I let fall will do better this way.