Poppies! Poppies will make her sleep...

[Patrick]

Having some fun with the title. I have some California poppies that are sort of naturalized in my yard, that I've fostered along over the years. They showed up on their own and are a pretty good spring accent at this point. The walkers hate it because they push into the sidewalk a little but they can't do anything about them because its the state flower. Kind of fun, actually. Many neighbors do not care for my shrubbery...

 

Anyways, I'd like to get a bumper bloom this year. Any suggestions? They are growing now, but will be flowering in about a month. Usually I do nothing. Can I give them something to make them really "pop" with flowers and eventually seeds? Some K-Mag or something comparable? Thanks for the thougts.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Patrick

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Having some fun with the title. I have some California poppies that are sort of naturalized in my yard, that I've fostered along over the years. They showed up on their own and are a pretty good spring accent at this point. The walkers hate it because they push into the sidewalk a little but they can't do anything about them because its the state flower. Kind of fun, actually. Many neighbors do not care for my shrubbery...

 

Anyways, I'd like to get a bumper bloom this year. Any suggestions? They are growing now, but will be flowering in about a month. Usually I do nothing. Can I give them something to make them really "pop" with flowers and eventually seeds? Some K-Mag or something comparable? Thanks for the thougts.

 Take a look through this thread i posted back in 2020, the last "good" year for spring flowers here..  W/ the poppies, i did nothing special.. Rainfall that winter did all the magic.. Soil? ..is 1/4th inch gravel laid 3-6"deep, w/ 60% of the "duff" that is shed from a nearby Mesquite allowed to settle through the rock through the year.

Have more going this year that are about 3-5 weeks out from starting to flower.
 

Also grow Kallstroemia grandiflora, AKA:  Giant Caltrops, or often called  " AZ Summer Poppies" here ( Not related to CA ..or any true  Poppies )  during the summer, for the "Monsoon Season show" 
 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Should add, working on getting some of these going..  Very  tricky plant to germinate..
 

The Annual Proboscidea sp. are supposed to be easier to get to germinate ( Planning on growing some out this summer as well )  ..We'll see..

Also working on building seed stock of this rarely seen summer plant this year,  Shrubby Purslane, Portulaca suffructescens ..a low growing, Perennial cousin of.. that is often mistaken for..  "Moss Rose" ( ..Annual, Which is native to S. America )





And these.. If what seed i was able to collect last year is good. Planning on collecting more seed regardless this summer.  

Variable Leaf Bush Bean, Macroptilium gibbosifolium






 

[Darold Petty]

California poppies are commonly available as inexpensive seed packets.  Just purchase a packet and broadcast the seeds about.  I did when changing an area from turfgrass to landscape plants.  I had a bumper crop the first year, but no more as the soil is too moist ! 

[Patrick]

These are coming along. I just got done plucking some of the larger milkweed out.

[Silas_Sancona]

Juusstt getting started here..




Cooler weather of late, and sun angle keeping this area in more shade through the day this time of year = a slightly later than usual start compared to when they started flowering at the old house / are flowering out in the desert currently.  ..Seeing a lot of bolting in the rest of the Poppies the roofers didn't smash, so it should be go time shortly.  Those that got smashed -and survived- should catch up soon.

Hard to see but there are poppies in this area too, which will be the latest of the two patches to flower ( much less sun there this time of year ) 




If i didn't mix up the seed when i collected it, they should be these cream / blush backed - flowered form. Like it a little better than the standard Orange.

[Rivera]

The common variety, first few of the year in our garden. Coyote mint (monardella villosa), pictured behind it in the photo. The coyote mint isn't quite in bloom yet, but makes a nice companion, as does nearly any low growing species of eriogonum.

[Silas_Sancona]

20 minutes ago, Rivera said:

The common variety, first few of the year in our garden. Coyote mint (monardella villosa), pictured behind it in the photo. The coyote mint isn't quite in bloom yet, but makes a nice companion, as does nearly any low growing species of eriogonum.

Coyote Mint is an awesome addition to any drought-themed or Herb garden..  Foliage is extremely fragrant. Not sure if it can be used in teas however.. Still have some dried material i'd collected on a trip to the Pinnacles in the 90s.  Grew the rarer, Scarlet flowered Monardella sp from S. Cal. awhile back.  Great plant as well, but a bit more touchy ..Does not like heavy / wet soil.

For anyone in the desert / other areas it isn't too rainy in the summer, Desert Lavender, Condea / Hyptis emoryi ..more of a larger shrub / small tree than a herbaceous perennial is a great stand in for it. Foliage is just as fragrant as traditional Lavender.

[Silas_Sancona]

Uploading some stuff off older SD cards earlier, found pictures of a couple of the other CA. poppy variants i've had come up in the past..  White flowered one is pretty neat,  but the cream colored, blush-backed variant ( Shots 2 and 3 ) is my favorite of all the non- Orange varieties.. 








I'd collected seed from it that year and hoping, if i didn't mix up seed that year,  that is what will flower when the flower patch on the north end of the car port gets going..  Bluebells there are just starting to bud atm.  After yesterday's rain, and some warmth over the next few days, it shouldn't be much longer before the show there begins..

Rest of the Poppy Patch is starting to light up as well.. Giving it a few more days before i get a couple update shots.

[Josue Diaz]

They can be perennial if given water through summer. I've had a local species of escholzia for years - (a yellow flowered one,  as opposed to the normal orange). After the spring bloom, I let it go to seed, then cut the foliage down to the ground. Then they return as tufts of foliage that persist through summer and bloom again in the fall. I cut back again after that bloom, and they come back in time for the spring bloom. The older ones have a nice, woody tissue at the base. 

[Silas_Sancona]

 @Josue Diaz came to mind when i came across another Genus of Poppies starting to flower while roaming around Tucson earlier..

Southwestern Prickly Poppy, Argemone pleiacantha,  Just starting their flowering cycle..  Intimidating as Heck ( all those spines ), but the flowers / attention getting blue tone to the foliage is pretty neat.. 99% sure this is the same species i see flowering in Sonoita in August but may do some casual comparisons this year, just for my own curiosity.