Common poppy grows on field edges or railway embankments, but is also ideal as a garden plant. You can buy young plants or sow the poppies yourself. The flowering period of individual plants is very short, so corn poppies work best in groups.
When and how should corn poppies be sown?
The corn poppies should be sown directly outdoors at the end of March or beginning of April. Choose a sunny location, scatter the seeds on loose, nutrient-poor soil and cover them lightly with soil. Then keep the soil slightly moist.
Where do I get the seeds?
You can collect the seeds from the dry seed pods of the fully bloomed corn poppy. If this is too tedious for you or you can't find enough seeds, then buy them from specialist retailers (€2.00 on Amazon). In addition to wild poppy seeds, you can also get various other poppy varieties there, such as Turkish poppy or Icelandic poppy.
The sowing
Sowing should take place directly outdoors around the end of March or beginning of April. Scatter the seeds widely on a bed with loose, nutrient-poor soil. To make this easier, you can mix the seeds with a little sand or soil before scattering them. Cover the seeds with just a little soil and keep them slightly moist.
The right location
Common poppy needs a lot of light and warmth so that it blooms profusely. Therefore, give it as sunny a place as possible. It tolerates drought better than constant moisture. That's why the soil should be permeable and dry. If necessary, mix a little sand into the potting soil.
Poppy seeds are very frugal and require only a few nutrients. For this reason, avoid fertilizing it. You also don’t have to water your poppy seeds. You should only give it a little water shortly before or during flowering in a dry period.
Planting out
Sow the poppies directly in the bed where they will grow in summer, then you will save yourself the trouble of planting them out. The relatively strong and long taproots make subsequent planting considerably more difficult. If it is still necessary, make sure that you do not damage the roots and that the planting hole is deep enough for the roots.
Tips & Tricks
It is best to sow corn poppies directly at the desired location in the garden. Later it will sow itself there and you don't have to worry about reseeding.
