How to grow the Oriental Poppies

“Oriental poppies” is the regular name for which one of the papaver flowers is known, but its real scientific name is the papaver orientale. The oriental poppies are one of the most common seeds that can be found with no problem, obviously in the right places.

And guess what, these poppies are not prohibited by the law, that’s why you can find them with no difficulty, not like his brother, the opium poppy. The difference is in the content of the flower itself, because the papaver somniferum (scientific name for the opium poppy) contain chemical substances that produce several effects if consumed, this is not bad at all, because they are used for several diseases and normal pains, but in excess it can cause the effect of numbness and addiction. But returning to the inoffensive oriental poppies, we can say that they are safe, but are still part of the family of the papaver, in some seeds there can be a very low content of these substances and if those who are used to eat these kind of seeds are tested, the may result may come out positive on the opium test. But as said before, the seeds content on this substance is very low, that is why many bakeries use them in cakes and bread, so don’t panic, and enjoy your meal.

Your oriental poppies, besides giving an extra taste to some of your dishes, give a different beautiful color to your garden, this is because the blooming of this plant is lovely and their flowers are also huge. But to make this plant grow big and strong, with a height around the four feet tall there are some specific directions you must know because if you don’t, the plant could either grow very little and weak, or not grow at all.

What you must know, is that the soil that this plan needs is not a very specific one, but it sure must be warm and moist, that is why the best time in the year to grow your oriental poppies is from March to September, after that, there is low probability for your poppies to grow. You should keep watching your poppies for their first sprouts, that’s the time where the watering level should decrease and after the first leaves come out you should increase again the level of watering. With a good fertilizer the plants will grow up faster and healthier. When the Oriental poppy starts growing way high, help it with a stick so it won’t bend over and die. And that way you will have your beautiful Oriental poppy plant.