How to grow Poppies

The word poppies is very well known among the gardeners, because they are wonderful plants that people like to plant in their garden for the incredible quantity of bright colors that can be found in each flower. But there is a dark side to the story that has not been heard about poppies, this is not a secret of course; earlier in the past century, people used to drink poppy infusions or teas as painkillers. Then people discovered that some poppies produced side effects (such as getting high), this is why they were banned for everybody, except for those who use the plant for research or other scientific goals.

So that may be why you cant find all the varieties in flower nurseries, there is another place where you can find poppies, probably you never noticed, they have been always in front of you, specially if you are a housewife, that place is the supermarket, funny isn’t it? So if they were banned because of the effects on people, why are they available in supermarkets? That’s very simple, because there are some poppies that don’t contain the alkaloid substances that make you fly, literally of course. There is a difference between poppies, in fact there is just one kind of poppy that is illegal in a lot of countries, and that is the “Papaver somniferum”, that in English is the Opium poppy.

But you must know that poppies are not bad at all, except for the one mentioned before and that they cure many health problems.

Besides having your own very colorful poppy garden, it will give you the ideal plant for painkillers.

After you get the poppy seeds, you must spread them in your garden with certain space between them, that will make them grow a little bit stronger and for longer time. After a couple of weeks of constant water pouring, the first sprouts must come out with a great amount of vitality, in that time you should decrease the amount of water you give to the plant, until it get some leaves and it turns into a flower with its own flower bud, which is the one that contains all the seeds. But here is an important advice, if you don’t take care of that bud; the poppies could spread all around your garden starting an invasion. So watch out for poppies, because they could take over your garden.