Crops & Breeds › Flower Garden
🌸 Poppy
Flower Garden · growing reference
| Days to maturity | 75 days – ~1 year, by type |
|---|---|
| Germination | 14 days |
| Spacing | 6″ in the row × 9″ between rows |
| Planted as | seed |
| Water | ~0.50–1 in a week |
When to plant
In USDA zone 6, for example: Recommended planting window around Apr 1.
| Spring | Fall | |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 3 | May 1 | Sep 6 |
| Zone 4 | Apr 23 | Sep 11 |
| Zone 5 | Apr 12 | Sep 24 |
| Zone 6 | Apr 1 | Oct 6 |
| Zone 7 | Mar 18 | Oct 27 |
| Zone 8 | Mar 1 | Nov 11 |
| Zone 9 | Feb 6 | Nov 26 |
Dates are the typical window for each zone's average frost dates — your own last frost can differ by a couple of weeks. Zone 10 and warmer is effectively frost-free: plant to the season, not the frost. Southern Hemisphere: shift six months.
Poppy Types
- Shirley · 75 days · 10–25 stems/plant — P. rhoeas — the annual corn/Flanders poppy; scatter-sow, self-sows forever.
- Iceland · 90 days · 10–25 stems/plant — P. nudicaule — short-lived perennial, crepe-paper pastels; great cut flower.
- Oriental · ~1 year · 5–15 stems/plant — P. orientale — the big blowsy perennial; blooms year two, then summer-dormant.
- Breadseed · 90 days · 5–15 stems/plant — P. somniferum — the annual grown for the ripe culinary poppy seed and dried pods.
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