Eastern perennial poppy - planting and care, features of seeding, transplantation

Of all the varieties of poppies that exist in nature, perennial oriental perennial is considered to be the most beautiful, favorite among gardeners. Planting and care of this luxurious flower does not require you special skills, knowledge of agricultural technology. Some difficulties may arise only when transplanting an already adult plant - I want to tell you about these and other nuances.

With its beauty, this flower is capable of competing even with a rose, and may simply outshine many common garden residents. Large rich red poppy buds bloom with the arrival of summer, the plant stems can reach a meter height. Poppy grows powerful bushes, and thanks to the efforts of breeders can now boast a wide range of colors, various texture of petals.

Varieties of cream and pink color, photo:

A long-term oriental poppy can be propagated by sowing seeds into the ground, dividing a bush, with green shoots. Cuttings( side shoots) need to be rooted, it should take about 2 or 3 years to give color. Transplanting this plant is quite difficult, but still possible, despite the fact that it reacts poorly to moving from place to place.

When to sow oriental poppy?

If one-year-old poppies bloom in the same year, then perennial, most likely, will show the world their buds for the next season( for example, if you sow seeds in the fall).If you sow in the spring, the flowers on the bushes will appear later than the autumn sowing. By the very beginning of summer, for only 2 weeks poppies bloom. The poppy fruit is like a box covered with a “lid” on top, when this box dries out, small holes are formed between it and the lid. If you leave the seed boxes on the bushes, then by self seeding, the seeds will spill out through these very holes. This cycle can be repeated annually, if not to collect the boxes.

How to collect eastern poppy seeds? There is nothing difficult here: you need to wait until the boxes are completely dry, carefully trim them, store in a tight tissue bag. You can leave small, grayish-black seeds right in the boxes, or you can remove the cap, pour the seed into the glass container. Sometimes you can see flower heads wrapped in gauze cloth on the plots - this is also one of the ways to collect seeds, which does not allow the seeds to wake up on the ground. As you know, poppy seeds can be used not only for cultivation of flowers, it is also a food product that is widely used in cooking.

Boxes with seeds, photo:

How to sow oriental poppy? Sowing material is buried in specially designed beds or directly into the ground right in the spring, if it is in the winter, then in the fall. As mentioned above, after sowing, flowers appear in the second or third year.

The seeds themselves are very small, they do not even have to be deeply buried, you can only press them lightly, cover them with special material for plants from above. If the seeds were sown in order to obtain seedlings, then at the phase of emergence of 5 young leaves of the plant can be dug and planted in flower beds or garden beds. However, most often this seedling method is not used, but seeds are immediately sown for the intended permanent residence of the flower.

Oriental poppy, photo:

There is an opinion that for the subsequent comfortable germination poppy seeds need stratification, that is, “shake” with cold. That is why experienced gardeners recommend sowing in early spring, when the probability of frost is still high. If you live in regions with a mild climate - sow poppies in the fall, so the seeds will get the necessary stratification, with the arrival of spring they will safely grow. At the site of the future flower garden just loosen the ground with a rake, scatter the seed, sometimes it is mixed with sand - here it is up to you. On top of the seeds sprinkled with a thin layer of loose earth. The main thing is not to deeply deepen them, since subsequently they simply do not have enough strength to stretch upward. Landing site should be watered, but carefully, not flooding.

How to grow oriental poppy?

This plant is quite unpretentious, tolerates low temperatures well. Despite the fact that it prefers sunny places, it also grows well, it blooms in the shade. Like all flowers, poppies love the soil rich in mineral dressing, you can also pre-fertilize it with compost or humus. Good results are obtained when planting in sandy soil, under any circumstances they react very badly to stagnant water, too much watering. This plant is not afraid of stones in the ground, it grows well in sandy soil. Due to its long rod-shaped root, it extracts moisture from the earth, and can do without irrigation for a long time.

This variety of poppy reacts relatively well to transplanting, but this process is best done with the onset of autumn when it rains. In order to avoid damage to the roots, for better survival, transplantation of the eastern poppy should be carried out together with the earth clod. It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the core root system of the flower, therefore the depth of digging the soil at the place of the future flower garden should be at least 30-40 cm. During this process it will be advisable to apply compost or humus, from 5 to 10-ti kg of similar organic fertilizers.

You should know that the maximum period of comfortable growth, abundant flowering of poppy in the same area is approximately 5-7 years, after which his place of residence must be changed. This representative of the plant world is large, so even when planting( and transplanting), take care that the distance between the bushes is approximately 50-70 cm.

favor flower. The plant can be fed with mineral fertilizers with the arrival of spring, during the growth of leaves, as well as during budding, that is, before the flowering itself.

When to replant an Eastern poppy?

Since this plant is a perennial, you can imagine what size it can reach in 3-5 years of life. The big sprawling bush can be divided, thereby propagating it. To do this, it is not necessary to completely remove the plant from the soil, you can try to carefully separate the fragment of rhizome from the side.

It is not possible to say that Oriental poppy gets accustomed to the new place very well, but if you pay attention to it, surround it with care, the result will be crowned with success.

It should be noted that its roots are rather fragile, so for best results, separate the roots from the sides. The best time for this operation is the month of May, when the plant has not yet begun to bloom. To minimize the risk of breaking the rhizome, the detachable fragment should be covered with a large lump of earth. When it is possible to transplant an Oriental poppy, the Internet will help you find a lot of recommendations for this question, where the flower's resting period is mentioned. It turns out that after the plant has faded, the process of dividing the rhizome can also be carried out.

The breeding method by dividing a bush is also good because after the procedure, it gives almost 100% guarantee that all varietal characteristics of the species are preserved. Thus, the new bushes will have similar decorative features, like the mother plant. To do this, the poppy bush is completely removed from the soil along with an earthy clod, after which it is extremely carefully divided into several fragments. These parts are called delenki, they are seated, keeping a distance of 70-80 cm from one another. Remember that with the onset of winter, in the first year of life, such plants will need to be covered with a special covering material.

It is also possible reproduction of Eastern poppies by grafting. To do this, separate the side shoots from the bush; weak representatives are usually chosen for this role. After cutting, the cuttings are kept in a disinfectant composition for about 24 hours( you can also use the “Kornevin” solution to stimulate root formation).At the end of the specified time, the shoots are planted in containers with moist, loose soil, covered with plastic wrap or transparent disposable( plastic) cups. After the formation of the roots, the cuttings are transplanted to the flower bed. If for any reason it is necessary to transfer the whole bush to a new place, it should be dug out with an earthy clod immediately after the end of flowering.

Oriental poppy in garden design

Unfortunately, the bright beauty of poppy is short-lived. A cut flower will stand in a flowerpot for no more than one day, and blooming in a flower bed - a little more, about 2-3 days. After this time, the plant loses the petals, in the place of the bud remains a box with seeds. It should be noted that such a bush also has a peculiar beauty. A rounded seed box is crowned with a “lid” with carved edges, and a thin graceful stem elevates it above other plants.

Oriental poppy is a very tall plant that looks very harmonious with other flowers. It can be used as a background for the undersized garden representatives, as well as a separate decorative element of the flower garden. It is very convenient to place the poppy in the background of the flowerbed, during the short flowering period it will show itself in all its glory, while its neighbors will only grow. Thus, other flowers will not obscure it during flowering, and later faded flowering bushes will hide when they grow and give color to themselves.

In a flowerbed, as the main accent, it will harmoniously look with geraniums, oregano, white or blue garden bells, yarrow, irises, and lupines. Plants with decorative leaves, such as hosts or astilbe, can act as a frame for a poppy bush. To close a bush after flowering, plant other perennials next to it, which have wide spreading leaves, for example, buzulnik or trillium. Oriental poppy looks good, it is planted along the border; however, one should remember about its high growth.

Poppy with clematis, photo:

It is desirable that there is some kind of support near the bushes, otherwise the plant under its weight can simply lie on the ground. This flower perfectly complements the atmosphere of the garden in a rustic style or the style of "Provence".Remember that poppy does not tolerate excessive moistening of the root system. If there are places on the site that are subject to flooding during the spring thaw, a flower garden or flower bed cannot be placed there. The sunny side of the plot with fertile soil is the best place for poppy, there it will grow in all its glory, it will delight you with magnificent color.

Sometimes you can see such a question on flower forums - why doesn’t the eastern poppy bloom? If the plant was planted by sowing seeds, then in the second or even third year of life it can produce only one or two buds. Usually this is followed by a burst of active flowering. If you plant it in a very shady place, the setting of flower buds can slow down significantly. Due to the lack of proper care, the poppy may also not give flowers. Damage to the roots, for example when loosening too much, can also be the reason for the lack of buds. Plant recovery after such an injury is rather slow. Replanting a bush from place to place is another reason for the temporary lack of flowers( it takes time for the poppy to take root).

Buds, photo:

Care of the Oriental poppy after flowering consists in cutting the yellowed, dried stems, leaves - this is done if you do not plan to collect seed. The ground part of the plant is cut near the ground, by the beginning of autumn there are new leaves, but not so sprawling and high. If you want to save the seeds, then after the end of the flowering period, leave everything as it is, wait until the seed pods are completely dry, and then carefully cut them off. After collecting the seeds, the ground part of the plant is to be pruned, by the arrival of cold weather you can cover the poppies with mulch, but not necessarily, because they are quite cold-resistant.

It is also worth mentioning the diseases that can affect the plant - a black spot fungus, ashes( powdery mildew).The affected bush is recommended to irrigate with preparations containing copper in its composition. Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate( copper sulfate), contact Maxim fungicide, systemic Topaz fungicide will help you out. If the disease manifests itself, then all the affected leaves, shoots should be cut, burned, and the plant itself should be fertilized with potash fertilizer.

For a longer flowering, prune the seed heads of poppies in a timely manner, of course, if you do not plan to collect seed. In order to preserve its varietal qualities of Oriental perennial poppies, planting and caring for them must be carried out separately from other poppy species. These are needed so that the flowers do not pereopilya among themselves, subsequently did not change the varietal color, the texture of the petals. Plant these lush flowers in your garden - you will be able to admire them for many years.

Reviews of those who planted the poppy east

Mac peony