Who says you can't transplant poppies?
Our dear friend Wild Garden of Virginia shows us how!
Wild Garden, in her own words and photos shows us her lovely poppies, sown in soda bottles, covered with snow, sprouted, and then tranplanted out using the
Hunk-O-Seedlings method. Watch the progress of this poppy bed from start to finish! You'll be amazed at how beautiful they are and easy it is to grow your own.
Wild Garden begins ~ this is a series of pictures i've posted a few times in the past that some people have liked because it shows a progression from containers to flowers over the course of a few months. some have also found it useful to see hunk-o-seedlings planted in the ground, and it's reassuring to see that they do actually grow bigger! and then another reason i post the series is because i really enjoyed this poppy bed and love to brag on it, so i enjoy posting the pictures. :D
to answer some questions that have been asked in the past ... yes, the rose in the 10 jun 2003 photo is "golden celebrations". the rocks were from a local quarry and were dry laid the previous autumn to make that bed and the bed was filled with compost mixed with sandy soil from the property. no, these poppies did not reseed themselves well at all the following year, this was the prettiest that bed ever was, it would have to be replanted every year. yes, i had to water the seedlings for a few weeks in april until they got established. okay .. now on with the pictures! :)
Tip suggests these
WinterSown.Org links:
For best viewing click on any thumbnail image to expand it to full size.
February 16, 2003 ~ this picture shows the containers sitting outside in the snow waiting for spring. the poppy seeds are sleeping in there somewhere!
February 18, 2003 ~ even more snow buries the containers! now all you can see is the holes in the tops of the 2 liter bottles. brrr, it must be cold for the poppy seeds in there, but spring is on the way soon.
March 23, 2003 ~ now the seeds have sprouted and spring is on the way. here you see a lot of containers, a few of them have the little poppy babies that will eventually fill up the poppy bed.
April 4, 2003 ~ time to plant them! here are the hunk-o-seedlings planted in early april in their new homes. i am watering them every few days at this point to help them to get established. they sure don't look like much, but someday they will grow big and have flowers. .
April 13, 2003 ~ still small and the hunks don't seem to have grown at all in a week's time. still watering them every few days to help them get established.
April 21, 2003 ~ you can't really tell but the hunks are starting to grow a little bit. at this point i've pretty much stopped watering them and figure they have gotten established enough to grow by themselves. it's been about a week since the last photo. the seedlings that look a little different on the left are bachelor buttons, the rest are various kinds of poppies.
May 7, 2003 ~ what a difference two weeks makes! now the poppies are really starting to grow as may brings warmer weather. it's still very chilly in the evenings but the days are warmer and the plants are happy in the spring rains. keep in mind that these WS babies have really been survivors, this is still 2 full weeks before the last frost date in my area and the babies have lived for over a month already in the ground and have been frosted a number of times. the carrot like foliage on the babies at the near part of the photo are california poppy babies.
June 10, 2003 ~ now the foliage is lush and full. the flowers are growing like crazy now and it feels like you can see progress daily as they race to summer. you can see that the sun is high in the sky as the summer equinox approaches, a full six months since the babies were planted during the winter solstice WS celebration.
June 22, 2003 (pic 1) ~ at the summer equinox the poppy bed is in full bloom and is a happy thing to see. the WS babies have turned into giant lush poppies full of color with delicate little petals that blow around in the breeze. poppies are definitely one of my favorites and are among the most beautiful of flowers.
June 22, 2003 (pic 2) ~ closer picture of the poppy blooms. you can see a few blue bachelor buttons mixed in with them and plenty of buds ready to open! poppies are gorgeous.
All photos and descriptive text shared by Wild Garden of Virginia.
Thank you Wild Garden! You really are a WinterSown Superstar!
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