Corn poppies grow on field edges or railway embankments, but are also ideal as a garden plant. You can buy seedlings or sow the poppies yourself. The flowering time of the individual plants is very short, so corn poppies work best in groups.
The seeds of the poppy can be collected from the seed pods after flowering
Where can I get the seeds from?
You can collect the seeds from the dry seed pods of the spent poppy. If that's too tedious for you or if you can't find enough seeds, then buy them from specialist retailers. In addition to wild poppy seeds, you can also get various other poppy varieties there, such as Turkish poppy or Icelandic poppy.
The Sowing
Sowing should take place outdoors at the end of March or beginning of April. Scatter the seeds broadly on a bed with loose, nutrient-poor soil. To make this easier, you can mix the seeds with some sand or soil before scattering. Cover the seeds with a little soil and keep them slightly moist.
The right location
Corn poppies need a lot of light and warmth to bloom profusely. Therefore, give it as sunny a place as possible. It tolerates drought better than constant moisture. Therefore, the soil should be permeable and dry. Possibly mix a little sand under the potting soil.
Corn poppy is very frugal and requires only a few nutrients. For this reason, you refrain from fertilizing it. You don't have to water your poppy either. You should only give it a little water just before or during flowering in a dry period.
The planting out
Sow the poppy directly in the bed where you want it to grow in the summer, then save yourself the hassle of planting out. The relatively strong and long taproots make later planting considerably more difficult. If it is nevertheless necessary, then make sure that you do not damage the roots and that the planting hole is deep enough for the roots.
tips and tricks
It is best to sow corn poppies directly at the desired location in the garden. Later it will sow itself there and you don't have to worry about reseeding.