California Poppies

  • 50 Replies
  • 41407 Views

Umbrian

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #30 on: February 11, 2014, 07:51:13 AM »
All my "autumn sowings" of Californian Poppies are self seeded and they are very strong and healthy this year due to the mild, if wet, winter we are experiencing. Hope yours succeed Fleur because once you have them they will do the job for you in future years. :)
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

*

Charithea

  • Hero Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #31 on: February 11, 2014, 01:41:12 PM »
Hi from sunny Cyprus. I have California poppies growing in different places. I was disappointed with the previous year's growth therefore I have sprinkled 5 packets of them in the Autumn and in one area is so jam packed you can hardly see the oxalis growing. Good luck Fleur.
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.

*

Fleur Pavlidis

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #32 on: February 11, 2014, 06:51:36 PM »
Thank you both for the encouraging news.
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

Daisy

  • Sr. Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #33 on: May 12, 2014, 10:50:25 AM »
I have a Californian Poppy that is perennial!
It is just one plant that I sowed four years ago from a mixture of doubles.
It virtually disappears over winter, then grows again the following spring.
I thought at first that it had seeded in exactly the same place as it's parent, but this year I watched it closely.
If it were a new seedling each year, it would have reverted by now.
Has anyone else found one that is perennial?
Daisy :)

may 2014 086 by Daisyincrete, on Flickr
Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #34 on: October 09, 2014, 11:20:23 AM »
Hi Daisy,
we do get some which resprout but they don't tend to last too many years - I think they get a bit woody and get susceptible to rot and disease.
The poppies are in full  swing again now,
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #35 on: October 09, 2014, 11:26:32 AM »
Just a couple more:
the yellow is a lovely shade without the harshness of the typical orange form,
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Alisdair

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #36 on: October 10, 2014, 01:26:05 PM »
You've got some amazing shades there. Do they seed themselves in your garden? We tried them in Greece, in a garden that's hot and completely dry for at least six or seven months, but though they did reseed very thinly the following year they then died out.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

Umbrian

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #37 on: October 11, 2014, 06:21:56 AM »
I tried a selection of seeds named "Oriental Silk" or something like that after having success with the ordinary orange ones but they germinated poorly,flowered sparsely and then died out. I still get ample self seeded ones from my original orange plants and so have to be satisfied with them. I have tried transplanting them when very young but they never really settle and make good plants and so I just enjoy them where they choose to appear - not always in the most convenient places :)
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

Caroline

  • Full Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #38 on: October 11, 2014, 07:51:07 AM »
I grow Californian poppies in my Rubble Garden, so-called because it's where the builder stockpiled sand and gravel.  I started with a packet of standard orange, and another of mixed softer shades.  They now self-sow (sometimes in the most unlikley places, as Umbrian suggests), but orange does seem to predominate.  And yes, some of them overwinter, until they get too leggy and woody and I cut them out. Here's a photo of the Rubble Garden, which I have never watered and which is exposed to the worst of the wind.

Caroline
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

*

Fleur Pavlidis

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #39 on: October 14, 2014, 06:32:22 AM »
What a wonderful site you have for your garden!
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

*

anita

  • Jr. Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #40 on: October 14, 2014, 02:16:40 PM »
I have had success in restricting the poppies that come up in the gardens to a soft yellow, with some with pink outer petal tints as Fermi has shown. I absolutely ruthlessly rogued out any bright oranges as soon as the blooms showed colour, thereby preventing bees from spreading the brighter genes. It took about six years but I no longer have the bright oranges although all my plants are self seeded each year.  I'm into the sixth year without any reversions to orange. OCD is my middle name  😃 Anita
Dry mediterranean climate, avg annual rainfall 530mm, little or no frost. Winter minimum 1C, summer max 45C

Caroline

  • Full Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #41 on: October 15, 2014, 08:23:35 AM »
Thanks Anita, you remind me that I now need to be more ruthless and select only the colours I want :).  But when I moved in nearly three years ago, the house was surrounded by what seemed like an ocean of yellow sticky clay and stones.  So I warmed to anything that was prepared to grow under difficult conditions - and now I have orange Californian poppies popping up in the most unlikely places!  There is a huge one twined around an artichoke in the vegetable garden which I must steel myself to remove.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #42 on: October 18, 2014, 02:23:56 PM »
You've got some amazing shades there. Do they seed themselves in your garden? We tried them in Greece, in a garden that's hot and completely dry for at least six or seven months, but though they did reseed very thinly the following year they then died out.
Alisdair,
These California poppies have been mixing their genes for a number of years and self-seeding each year. I wish I could be as ruthless as Anita in roguing out the ordinary orange ones! We do have some terracotta orange ones and I don't mind them. Each year is a waiting game to see what colours turn up and I think there are new shades this year. Although we think of our climate as harsh I doubt that we go a whole six months without any rain. We try not to water the areas where the poppies grow as they are mostly where there are dormant bulbs underground which wouldn't want to be in wet soil when their roots aren't in active growth. Where the poppies get some summer moisture I think they flower for longer,
cheers
fermi
« Last Edit: October 27, 2014, 08:02:57 AM by Fermi »
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #43 on: October 27, 2014, 08:04:23 AM »
This is the latest "colour break" - I don't think I've seen it here before - a deep orange-red,
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Charithea

  • Hero Member
Re: California Poppies
« Reply #44 on: October 27, 2014, 08:17:10 AM »
Hello  Fermi. Thanks for the beautiful photos. It is a lovely way to start the week. We had a thunderstorm 2 days ago , did not last long but there is enough water to encourage my seeds to come up. I have sweet peas and Californian poppies. I will post photos if I have any success.
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.