Papaver rhoeas: 20 seeds of the common poppy
The common poppy is native to North Africa and temperate Eurasia and has by now reached nearly every continent. It is an annual, grows to roughly 40 to 70 centimetres and feels rough all over thanks to a covering of stiff hairs. The stems stand upright and branch little; the leaves sit along them alternately and without a stalk, deeply cut and coarsely toothed, with one clear midrib. Each stem carries a single flower five to ten centimetres across, with four scarlet petals that overlap slightly and usually show a black blotch at the base. A flower lasts only a day, yet in a warm season one plant can produce as many as four hundred of them. What follows is a hairless, obovoid seed capsule less than twice as tall as it is wide, topped by a disc at least as broad as the capsule; the fine black seed shakes out through the pores beneath it.
That seed can lie in the soil for years and only comes up once the ground is disturbed. Hence the plant's long association with farming: the poppy fits its life cycle to a cereal crop and has flowered and set seed before the harvest comes in. The same habit turned the fields of Flanders red during the First World War, and the poppy has been the symbol of fallen soldiers across the Commonwealth ever since. In a garden the flowering season is long, running from late spring into late summer, and a warm early autumn often brings a second flush. Leaves and latex are mildly poisonous to grazing animals, so keep the plant out of a paddock.
How to sow the common poppy
- Sow in March or April, or in September for an early show the year after, in a sunny spot.
- Rake the ground open and clear out grass and perennial weeds; poppies will not come through dense turf.
- Scatter the seed broadcast and press it down lightly, without covering it over.
- Keep the top layer moist for the first few weeks; after that rain will do the work.
- Thin the seedlings to roughly a hand's width apart and let a few capsules ripen at the end of the season for next year.
Traditional uses
The poppy has a long history in the kitchen and in folk tradition. The black seeds are harmless and go into bread and pastry; in parts of Eastern Europe they are boiled and ground with honey or sugar into a sweet filling. The petals yield a red dye that has been used in syrups, drinks and wine, and dried petals end up in potpourri. Young leaves picked before flowering were cooked and eaten much like spinach. In folk medicine the petals were used for aches and gout, and a petal syrup was given to children to help them sleep. Latex, petals and capsules contain rhoeadine, an alkaloid described as a mild sedative; the morphine found in Papaver somniferum is not present. We sell these seeds for cultivation and study. If you decide to use plant material anyway, that is your own responsibility, and too much can upset the stomach and gut.
More exotic seeds at Avalon
The same category at Avalon Magic Plants holds Papaver dubium (long-headed poppy), Papaver argemone (prickly poppy), Papaver somniferum, the Lilac Single seeds and Eschscholzia californica, the Californian poppy. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
