Ouroboros garden

This is the well-known, traditional, poppy. The plant is well known for its medicinal uses (some varieties producing opium), for food uses (breadseed poppies), and as ornamentals. The species name, “somniferum” comes from the Latin “somnus” for “sleep”, and “ferre” meaning “to bear” in recognition of the medical aspect. The seeds we’re providing here are from an open pollination between a large number of varieties. The parental plants include white, pink, red, and purple colours as well as single or double-blooms (see images below). I find the seeds result in a mix of characteristics from these flowers, resulting in a warm palette of flower colours. The flowers are bee-magnets, not because they produce nectar (which they don’t at all) but for the massive amount of pollen they produce, the nutrition source of bees. Research shows that pollen from poppy plants is significantly less fungi than average pollen and thus less mycotoxins which have a negative effect on bees. You can see the pollen baskets many bee species have on their legs. I’ve seen bees forcing their way into poppy flowers about to bloom, maybe to get the cleanest pollen, maybe to get the pollen first? Plants are short-night induced, requiring nights of less than 10 hours to bloom. This means they will bloom later in more shaded areas; in my semi-shaded garden in Halifax I see my first flowers in late June.

Germination instructions:
One of the best ways to plant poppies is winter-sowing. In late winter, even with snow still on your garden, sprinkle the seeds in the areas you’d like plants to come up. This method does require a little foresight as you need to prepare the bed you’re planning in advance of the snowfall. Alternatively, wait until early spring and sow on the surface of the soil; just before a rain is the best time to do this if you choose this route. The plants are very temperamental when it comes to transplanting, usually doing very poorly when removed from a pot and put in the garden. However, I have learned that by using soil blocking, plants can be started weeks earlier indoors for explosive growth after putting into the soil outside once it’s warmer. It must be that the roots of the plant are very sensitive, as soil blocking greatly reduces root stress during “transplant” (really it’s just planting) to the garden. This site gives a good soil blocking explanation and recipe: https://shiftingroots.com/soil-blocking/. The plants thrive on neglect, and readily self-seed; once they’re in place, often all that is needed is thinning out in the spring.