Crop Feature: Poppies

Who doesn’t love a poppy? Tissue paper petals, great colors- they are a perfect spring treat!

Poppies are a seed grown crop. We buy ours in from plugs. They aren’t the hardest to grow from seed but also not the easiest. The biggest issue is that they require cooler temperatures to germinate but in order to have the plugs ready on time, we would need to seed in September— it’s hard to find a cool (55 degrees) spot to germinate seeds that time of year. So we buy them in.

They like very rich soil which we have - thanks to all the compost our pigs make! They are tough plants and can take a good bit of cold but don’t like to be wet.

They should be harvested and delivered in bud stage or with the pods just beginning to pop off. Open poppies arriving in your shop can get damaged in transit. Sometimes they begin to open while delivering because of the sunshine and light hitting them after they come out of a cold cooler but there should still be signs of the pod enclosure in your bundle.

If poppies are harvested open and then delivered, it’s very possible that they were pollinated before delivery which significantly reduces your vase life. If the pollen anthers or the center bud area is browning, then your poppy isn’t fresh.

And since poppies don’t have a super long vase life, you want to get as much out of them as possible. So they should be delivered still in bud or just popped.

When they arrive in your shop, give them a fresh cut and place in water. If you are buying Italian poppies- they don’t need to be seared. I’ve tested both ways and searing doesn’t add any vase life to Italian poppies. The Italian ones are the larger bud types. Just ask your grower which type they grow. Other varieties benefit from searing.

After a fresh cut, you can begin the opening process by peeling the pod off from where the pod attaches to the stem. Don’t peel from the center of the top of the bud, you’ll damage petals this way.

It normally takes about 24 hours for them to fully open if they are in a warmish, bright place. You can blow on them to speed up the process.

Italian poppies should get a minimum of 5 days of vase life, usually longer. I often get 8 days, occasionally 10-12. Other varieties won’t last as long- 4-6 days tops. The Italian ones are bred for bigger flowers, stronger stems and longer vase life.