This plant has suddenly taken over my flower bed!

[newgarden772]

Does anyone know what it is?

Mine are bright pink

Oh I’m so jealous
I have a solitary opium poppy. I collected some seed in my local field and grew it in a pot. Weirdly some red poppies turned up in one of my planters this year so I’m chuffed
The two pix, beautiful colours. Really loving poppies this year. Here is mine, she is quite shy

Siameasy, leave the seedhead to develop then scatter where you want them next year!

Love this thread and the pictures!
My dd is called Poppy because she is bright, beautiful and was a gloriously unexpected surprise

Thanks for the tips re the seeds HeronLanyon

I am so jealous. i love opium poppies, but in spite of scattering thousands of seeds, I can’t get them to grow.

I started mine off in a pot Vix as I suspect something eats the seeds

A pot you say ? I will try and sow some next Spring in pots then. I can get oriental poppies to grow, but none of the lovely delicate “proper” poppies like field poppies or fairy wings, or the gorgeous opium poppies. I scatter seed every single year in hope, but no. Maybe my garden is too crowded ?

This is how mine looked last week. I had loads! They’re really easy to pull up once finished. They come back year after year.

I sowed some seeds in a pot last August Vix it over wintered and did really well altho I can’t remember when exactly it sprouted. I put it in the ground in May and it’s great.
I’d bet something is eating the seeds!
I’ve had success with autumn sowings of poppies - some plants seem to prefer it.

Maisy: what are you saying that is a photo of? I’m no gardening expert but those purple flowers look more like alliums than poppies to me! Maybe the photo is not in focus though

Oh just seen Errol’s pink frilly one (ahem)!

So that is also a poppy?!? I had no idea they could look all spiky like that!

I had no idea either till I moved to this house and they started appearing in the newly dug beds.

The single ones are doubtless better for wildlife, some of the red ones upthread are gorgeous.

SirVix - maybe try just digging over some of the areas you've seeded in the past this autumn. The seeds evidently stay viable for ages, it seems to be the disturbance that gets them going.

ahem - I believe you can make opium tea out of the seed heads-

... but it's not meant to be safe to do so ! (toxic or something)

the wafer trail

sorry I meant to post on another thread there!!

I'd rather chuck the seed around the garden and hope for more random poppies in years to come.