The New Crowned Jewel of my Garden - Scarlet Tasmanian Poppy Papaver Somniferum

One of my favorite things about gardening is the unexpected surprises that pop up every year. My veggy garden is literally infested with baby cilantro starts but my Poppy garden just bloomed with this gem!

Freshly Bloomed Tasmanian Poppy

 The fun part is that these seeds must have been mixed in by mistake. All of the others have been the traditional white with purple spots. This one sure stands out in the crowd!

Tasmanian Poppy from a different angle

 Aside from the color and wonderful architecture, this beauty is huge! I didn't measure but I am guessing that it is probably 8" across.

Isn't she gorgeous? Should have a few more in the next few days.

I can see that this stalk has 5 or 6 more buds that will be opening up in the next few days. It should be a spectacular display of color! The white and purple variety usally lose all of their petals in a day or so. I sure hope that these last longer.

Pictures of Poppies - Papaver Somniferum

Here is a sneak peak of my garden this year. Aren't they beautiful?

Tasmanian ready to bloom

The petals only last about 24 hours. Enjoy them while you can!

Tasmanian poppy reaching for the the sun!

Just bloomed

Tasmanian back lit

Hybrid Ikkanshu - Tasmania before the bloom. Notice the hairs on the stem?

Tasmanian pod ready to burst

Ikkanshu poppy pod

Ikkanshu poppy pod

Can't wait until these pop!

Notice the "frost" on this one. Ikkanshu-Mania.

Multiple pods getting ready for the show!

Ikkanshu-Mania seeds coming soon!

Care and handling of Poppies / papaver somniferum

This is a repost of a piece by white buffalo trading company on eBay. They have given permission to distribute freely. Original can be found at http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-3-10-grams-Turkish-Blue-Afghan-Poppy-Seeds-USDA-organic-Papaver-somniferum-L-/251058216451?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item8016cf105f  for as long as they allow it to be there. Although they refer to "bread seeds," these instructions are suitable for every type of poppy seed.

How to Grow "Exotic Traditional" Poppies, Papaver somniferum:

Annual flower with blue to purple-blue flowers. Has a 90-120-day life cycle in all seasons. Full sun, rich soil preferred. Direct sow, or toss, seeds in early spring to mid summer on top of loosened soil. Plant more seeds every two to four weeks for continuous flowers in any garden area. No need to cover the tiny seeds as they will fall into the smallest cracks in the soil, but if you do, use a thin layer of sand and/or perlite. Can be sown in summer or fall as well as spring. Likes both cool weather and warm weather and will cycle and die at all times of the year. More affected by its pre-programmed genetic life cycle than frost or drought. Do not transplant seedlings if possible or they will often suffer or die from root transplant shock. If you need to transplant, start the seeds in peat pots and transplant before its very sensitive roots emerge from the pot. Protect young plants from sow bugs, snails and slugs. Keep watered until the somniferum poppy seeds sprout.


The trickiest part is next, between the first sprout and the first set of true leaves. At this time they are vulnerable to damping off, or stem mold, as well as the aforementioned pests. Let top of soil dry between watering, providing air movement to indoor plants. Bottom water if possible, but avoid damp stems on the little buggers. Pamper through this stage. Once they are established, thin out to give about one cubic foot of total space for optimum flower production. Can be grown indoors in a deep flower pot with a drip saucer. If you grow French-Intensive biodynamic like I do, then you can naturally grow much denser in richer soil and space plants at six inches. See the classic garden bible How to Grow More Vegetables by my local icon John Jeavons for more information on this method of gardening. Hard to identify poppies as "Exotic traditional" poppy before the classic pods form, unless you are a trained botanist. During the month of growing their notorious flower pods, however, they are quite distinctive and unique. Can be grown indoors with your other sensitive plants.


The "exotic traditional" poppy typically blooms in 90 days (although I had my red variety flower in only four weeks); flowering lasts only about a month at most. Total growth cycle is 120 days and then they die and hope their seeds will immediately re-sprout into a new set of annuals. Plants are very hardy once established and will tolerate frost and drought and other poor conditions, but production suffers. Exotic traditional poppies will grow in many harsh environments, such as the rocky fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan and other far-flung, stone-strewn Ethnicstans, so thriving in your pampered garden should be quite easy once the plants get past their infancy. Once well established, weekly deep watering is preferred. Stressed plants with little or no fertilizer produce smaller, or less desirable, flowers and flower pods. Fertilizers should be heavy on P and K (bone meal and wood ash) to produce big, healthy, rich, desirable flowers and lovely pods for your home flower arrangements.


Harvesting bread seeds: Flowering does not last long. Once finished, the beautiful but notorious poppy pods will develop from the pollinated flowers (a favorite flower of my local carpenter bees). You can cut the pods off the plant after they start to open holes in the pods. Once the pod seeds are mature, the top of the pod will open little holes like a natural salt shaker, and when the wind blows, small seeds will be flipped out of the top of the pod as if shaken out like salt. Better to save the seed and replant in Spring. You can cut the pods off the plants and put them upside down into a glass jar and the seeds continued to fall out for months. They can be stored in glass or plastic, eaten, or planted next year. Pods are sold in flower shops and online. Feel free to distribute these instructions with my blessings to the world.

IKKANSHU-MANIA Ikkanshu Tasmanian Poppy Hybrid

IKKANSHU-MANIA Ikkanshu Tasmanian Poppy Hybrid



Master gardeners and scholars agree that two of the most sought after poppies in the world are the Ikkanshu Poppy from Japan and the Tasmanian Poppy.

Ikkanshu Poppy - primarily found in pharmaceutical study journals, this is probably the rarest poppy in the universe. Since most gardeners have never even heard of it, it hasn't gained the popularity of its other papaver somniferum sisters. Originally found only in Japan, a source of authentic purebred Ikkanshu seeds was almost impossible to obtain. The majority of the information about this mystic flower is written only in Japanese. Because of it's milky white flowers some (unscrupulous) sellers have sold China White Poppy seeds and claimed that they were Ikkanshus. The blue - gray seeds are one of the primary indicators that you are dealing with you are dealing with the elusive Ikkanshu Poppy. The light beige ones are garden variety China Whites. Luckily, I found a source of Ikkanshus that could be verified about 11 years ago.



Ikkanshu Tasmanian Poppy Hybrid

Tasmanian Poppy - The world's pharmaceutical market has been driven by this beauty for the past 60 years. Engineered to be hardy and potent, the Tasmanian Poppy will survive in most environments. Usually identified by its white petals with purple splotches, this powerhouse is easy to identify. They may be easy to ID but good seeds aren't easy to obtain. The Tasmanian Poppy industry is heavily guarded and regulated. My seeds were "blow overs" that were purchased in Tasmania many years ago. I have kept the strain going and cross pollinated them with the Ikkanshus.

Ikkanshu-Mania Poppy - I have been growing poppies for over 20 years and working on this hybrid for the past ten years. After years of research, I realized that blending two of the rarest poppies on earth might make for a wonderful hybrid. The past decade has been dedicated to creating a poppy that would be potent, grow multiple heads per plant, and be fairly easy to grow. The result is my Ikkanshu-Mania Poppy.

Ikkanshu-Manias can be identified by their white / violet streaked petals with purple blotches. Multiple stems will grow from the leave intersections to produce flowers and post. Some plants will produce as many as 15 heads!



Up to 15 pods per plant

The yield of these seeds is astronomically high. Approximately 98% of the seeds are viable and will produce sprouts when planted and cared for correctly. Your success is almost guaranteed as they are very easy to plant and fairly easy to care for and nurture to adult pod producing plants. Probably the most difficult stage of the process is during the 3 weeks after they sprout. They need to be kept moist so that they won't dry out but they are easily washed away if over watered. A little extra care and a light water mister will get the job done quite nicely. Once they reach adulthood they will each produce 6 to 10 flowers / pods.

A limited quantity of Ikkanshu-Mania seeds will be available soon.

Please DO NOT contact me to ask if I will sell you poppy pods of any type! I do not distribute pods of any kind.