Breadseed poppy season has properly arrived!

Here in the Pacific Northwest it tends to start in late June, and then continue intermittently for a month or so.

This is the umpty-ninth descendent of a Lauren’s Purple. I think the color is still pretty true… it’s a gorgeous burgundy.

Feverfew in the background.

Here is the poppy bed. Here in the Puget Sound area, I usually sprinkle out the poppy seeds in January of February. They sprout in a few weeks, then sit and do nothing for a couple months. It gives them a stronger start, though.

The one catch is that the slugs like them. No red frillies this year, for that reason…

I usually do two beds of poppies, one of the red frillies and one of the purples. For some reason the slug pressure on the reds was very high this year, and I wasn’t on top of dealing with it. Next year I will take measures early and thoroughly!

Breadseed poppies close up at night! Usually just for one night, but still, they have the mechanism.

They can’t re-pack themselves the way they were in the bud, but they close each pair of lips as much as they can (they usually have four symmetrical petals). The inner pair basically acts like a clamshell!

Genetics are always fun!

The cut edge on this one came by way of the cut-edged reds that I usually grow.

It also only has three petals, which is a straight-up mutation. 

Here they are, a side-shot all closed up for the evening. It’s a good thing, because we got a little rain!

Possibly the last for weeks, so every drop is precious. 

Breadseed poppies are fun, and if you can allow the seedheads to develop, you can use them for baking! Plus, the seedheads look cool.

Give them a whirl!