Wild Poppy Seed

[Sammy]

We have an area of meadow beyond our lawn which we'd like to populate with wild poppies. But where can we purchase that amount of seed, in the UK?
Sammy.

[Geoff]

I haven't bought any but I put "wild flower seeds landscape quantities" into a search engine (I now use Ask.com as I am dubious about Google's commercial links) and got quite a few sites. Only had a quick look but meadowmania certainly had large quantities but probably only mixtures, wildflowershop seemed to be smaller quantities but did have poppies at £1.50 / 1000. Others might have some experience.

[Johnboy]

Hi Sammy,
I think what you are after is the Field Poppy.
I think I have located some on Chiltern Seeds.
Try: www.edirectory.co.uk/chilternseeds/page ... numX4&pn=4

Long I know but you should be able to simply left click on the web site.
JB.

[Johnboy]

Hi Sammy,
Just checked that the website works and noticed the the price is £1.47. Sterling or 2.04 euros.
You say Ireland as your location but unsure if this is N. Ireland or R.O.I.
It doesn't say how many seeds in a packet.
JB.

[Mole]

Hi Sammy

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but wild poppy is not a meadow flower, it's an annual which occurs on disturbed ground (as long as it's seed is present!) e.g. cornfields, WW1 battlegrounds etc..

To have wild poppys each year you would have to cultivate your 'meadow' first, let the poppies seed over the area and cultivate each year.

I would check out a meadow book - the best I've read is Pam Lewis's (Sticky Wicket Gardens) and Christopher LLoyds.


Hope this is useful

Mole

[Monika]

Hello, Sammy, I agree with Mole entirely. You would probably get poppies for the first year but never again because they are cornfield plants (that is, ploughed every year) not meadow plants (mown and grazed).

There are some excellent book about creating meadows, to name just four:
Wild Flower Gardening by John Stevens
Wildlife Gardening by Fran Hill
Creating a Wildlife Garden by Bob and Liz Gibbons
Creating a Flower Meadow by Yvette Verner

You will certainly find something on the internet, too.

[Johnboy]

Whereas I agree to a degree with Monika and Mole but we seem to have a strain locally that grows on the verges that have not been disturbed for probably a considerable time. Over 50 years ago the ditches were filled and piped. These verges are cut twice a year.
Are there different strains of Field Poppy I wonder.
They really do appear to be the same but I must confess that I have never really inspected them and if they did I am no expert on Poppies.
JB.

[Geoff]

You could ask one of the suppliers for advice especially one of the meadow specialists, just drop them an email saying you are going to sow a large area they'll soon reply.

[Sammy]

We have an area of meadow beyond our lawn which we'd like to populate with wild poppies. But where can we purchase that amount of seed, in the UK?
Sammy.

Thank you all for your very interesting and enlightening replies.
I'll let you know how I progress with the idea.
== Sammy ==

[KMARKSnr]

Hi all,
I dont know if this is any use, or not, but here goes ?
I once bought poppy seed from an Asian grocer for cooking my beloved curries - anyhow i tried a few seed in the greenhouse and the lot germinated,and are very cheap to buy.

Just a thought,
Mark.