When are poppy seeds ripe?

[Smidge001]

I know it's when they rattle in the seed heads. But when roughly is that? I can't find a month of the year mentioned anywhere on the Internet.

There were some gorgeous poppies in the central reservation on my way to work, and our council still seems to be continuing with no mow may, so so far haven't cut them down. But I don't want to go trampling across the road trying to find the poppy seed heads amongst all the weeds unless it's roughly the right time to pick one!

Following! There are some beautiful ones down our road but I don't know when to pick them.

I hadn't thought about the council cutting them down!! Eeek! Maybe I should grab done now just in case

When the seedheads go brown and lose their fresh green appearance.

but you may find yourself in trouble picking off the seedheads as the council have deliberately left them on so they self seed and renew next year. You can buy the seeds online for a quid!

This - in general, don't take wild seeds. The poppies are there for a reason and their seeds will scatter where nature wants them to.

If everyone did what you're planning, there'd be no more beautiful poppies on your way to work

But when is that . That's my exact question! I know the seed heads need to be brown, and rattle etc, but is that in July, August, late september or what?

Unless they’re the big perennial poppies, which I doubt, they won’t persist in grassland - too much competition for the emerging seedlings. So unless the Council is planning to plough the central reservation each winter, they will slowly die out

I suspect what you regard as “weeds” are other species of wild flower. Wildflower mixes of perennial plants for a permanent meadow often contain a few annuals to keep people happy in the first year while the perennials are still concentrating on leafy growth.

don’t know about red native poppies (assuming that is what these are) but Mecanopsis cambrica, yellow Welsh poppies, are already shedding seed.

There isn’t a date because it depends on the weather and when they flower, but I’ve seen some that were brown and rattling, clearly ready last week so 14 July? But that’s Papaver somniferum, the grey leaved ones. I’ve had some smaller ones ready for a month so… 14 June? But then, I had some of those small ones flower only this week, so they won’t be ready until… 14 August?

What Hoppity said - depends. But check them about 2-3 weeks after the petals fall off and keep an eye after that. There is no guarantee they will come true to seed, same as beautiful humans can give birth to distinctly average children, but it’s worth a try.

Thanks! I'll go today and see what I can find. I hope i'm not too late!

I'm not sure what variety they were - but the ones I loved where such a beautiful deep red, quite tall. Others were more orangey red and the petals were more floppy. But it was the red ones that I'd love to help propagate.

Since poppy heads have hundreds and hundreds of seeds it's possible to take some and still leave lots, because if you're growing them yourself there will be a higher success rate than those self-sown in the wild. IMO is only bad if you go and take all the seed heads for yourself and don't leave any.

There needs to be hundreds of seeds because of the failure rate in germination- some will be blown onto tarmac, some simply won't germinate.

I really think it's anti social to take the seed heads of lovely wildflowers, unless it's on your land.

But that's exactly my point, there's a high failure rate in the wild but if OP takes a few to germinate herself under controlled conditions the rate will be high so she only needs a small amount. The rest can be left.

Just buy some fgs! Leave the wild ones to deseed and continue where they are.

I honestly didn't know there was such strength of feeling surrounding taking seed.

Such weird views on this thread. Nothing wrong with collecting a few poppy seed heads and sowing the seeds. Poppies are extremely common and have a massive seedbank of seeds that can survive for decades in the soil.

No, you shouldn't go out and dig up wildflowers, but collecting small amounts of seed of commom widespread species is perfectly fine.

If these are growing on the central reservation then either they have been planted by the roads authority and are not wild, or they are doomed to die out as the grass takes over.

In my experience Poppies will only grow where they want to. I’ve sown loads in various gardens and 5hey refuse to grow. However, I have had 4 beautiful plants with large, red and black frilly flowers self sow in my cars turning space. Anyone who drives over them will be composted!

My ordinary ones are already setting seed.

Ask in the local church garden. Poppies are always present, three guesses why. We give our seeds away to anyone who asks.

I am allowed on the C of E’s precious grass to pick and distribute cos I plant the vicar’s containers up with seeds taken from my pots every year 😀

Mine are seeding now too, wet NW England 🤷🏽‍♀️

It's my first year finally getting the Amazing Grey and Pandora (Papaver rhoeas) to flower after sowing them in modules first. Previously, direct sown ones never came up and someone online said they do it cells instead.

They're flowering atm, and still have quite a few pods that I'm eagerly waiting for them to set seed, but worried about passers-by brushing past/picking them. (In the past, people have picked a few flowers every now and again).

I don't think you can pick them at a certain stage before they are truly dried off and the seeds rattle inside the pod, can you?

Should be around now some of mine have flowers some have seed heads same as my mums she has yellow poppies.