California Poppy

I've been growing California Poppy for a full year now and want to capture what each season offered. peak flowering from early to midsummer was the clear high point — everything you're told about California Poppy at that time of year is true. But the plant has something to offer in every season, whi…

I've grown several varieties within the California Poppy family and have some observations to share. exceptional wildlife value for bees, butterflies, and hoverflies varies noticeably between them, more than catalogue descriptions suggest. The care fundamentals are shared — scarifying or scratching …

I'm a busy person and can't give every plant the attention the books recommend. Here's what I've learned about the minimum viable care for California Poppy. allowing plants to set seed before cutting at the end of season is genuinely non-negotiable — skip this and the plant declines noticeably. Eve…

I don't have a garden so a roadside or verge planting in a community space is my only option for California Poppy. It absolutely works — with the right attention to allowing plants to set seed before cutting at the end of season you can get excellent results in containers. naturalistic aesthetic th…

I planted California Poppy at entirely the wrong point in the growing calendar and spent the first few months wondering what I'd done wrong. rabbits and slugs targeting young seedlings didn't help matters. Once I understood sowing directly into poor soil as rich soil encourages weeds things improved…

Here are my notes from twelve months of growing California Poppy: Spring: early spring bulbs and annual seedling germination. This was the moment that confirmed the whole venture. I focused on allowing plants to set seed before cutting at the end of season during this period which set up the rest o…

As a complete beginner I was nervous about starting with California Poppy. It turned out to be more forgiving than I expected, as long as I paid attention to sowing directly into poor soil as rich soil encourages weeds. I grow mine in a wildlife pond margin planting which is working really well. ex…

California Poppy is clearly a great plant — I can see that from other people's results. Mine has been decent but not spectacular, and I think I know why. I underestimated the importance of allowing plants to set seed before cutting at the end of season in the early stages and paid for it. dog walke…

My first attempt at California Poppy failed — annual weed competition overwhelming slow-establishing flowers got hold of it and I didn't know what I was looking at until it was too late. I left it alone for a year before trying again. The second attempt, with proper attention to sowing directly int…

I had a serious problem with poor germination in compacted or clay soils on my California Poppy earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational. Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate naturalistic aesthetic t…