Poppy Seed

[Tim Harberd]

Not meconopsis I know   BUT I started growing Icelandic Poppies again after a break of a couple of decades.
They don't seem as big as I remember!
Then I discover... its not an illusion of time! There was a large flowered variety called 'Oregon Rainbow'.
Any clues on where I might find seed?

Tim DH

[brianw]

Home Meadows nursery at Woodbridge in Suffolk used to be the poppy exhibitor at Chelsea Flower Show for many years I think. They have a website but no obvious mention of poppies I can see. Maybe they know where their seed strain went to if it still exists.

[ArdfearnAli]

Hello Tim,
              Tried to post this last week but not sure why it hasn't appeared. Here is a link to Nextday-seeds They seem to list papaver nudicaule Oregon rainbow. Hope it helps and the link works. http://www.nextday-seeds.co.uk/acatalog/papaver_seeds_uk_flower_seed_thompson_and_morgan.html If it doesn't copy and paste it into your browser?

I think their website is either having problems at the moment or being updated as I can't order anything but  the contact section seems to be working so you could always give them a shout
re availability
Alasdair

[Gail]

I remember visiting Home Meadows nursery about 10? years ago and being really impressed by their Icelandic poppies which were huge and very lovely; according to their website " The Nursery became well known for the famous "Meadhome" Iceland Poppies and regularly displayed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the Suffolk Show. The Poppies are not available at the moment but they specialise in other areas. "
Thompson and Morgan used to have a National Collection of poppies and a really good selection of seed but that seems much diminished now.

These might be worth investigating...
https://www.unicornblooms.com/product-page/colibri-icelandic-poppy-1000-seeds

[Tim Harberd]

Thanks for your help with this…..

Gail’s Colibri link is interesting… Apart from the fact that they don’t ship outside Canada, I’m not sure I want to pay £50 for a packet of poppy seeds!

Interesting to learn about the Meadhome strain from Home Meadows Nursery... I wonder if it is a coincidence that there was a Meadow Pastels strain?

‘’Encouraged’’ by the fact the other people had found things I missed, I did a bigger search and came across this
https://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/product_info.php/papaver-poppy-nudicaule-san-remo-mixed-400-seeds-pa097-p-6226

Which may be close to what I’m after… I’ve ordered some.

I also found this:
https://nijssentuin.nl/home/337525-Papaver-nudicaule-Kelmscotts-Giants6.html

Sadly, although they are prepared to ship to the UK the website doesn’t accept my credit or debit card!

No such problems with Arisaema’s suggestion (on the Seeds Wanted board)… Only it always rankles a bit to pay more for the postage than the item.

Anyway, that’s two new strains ordered to try.

If anyone can get the Kemscotts Giants I'll swap them a pinch of the other two!

Tim DH

[Gail]

Rather cheaper than the Colibri ones here;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POPPY-GIANT-DE-Iceland-1-Gr-5000-Seeds-Seeds/112208998294?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49919%26meid%3D8a06c79638e9447aa9a7594330688690%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D332443350174%26itm%3D112208998294&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Gail,
   Thanks for this link....  (How come none of my searches threw that up?)
   As always, with catalogue descriptions, one is left struggling with what the term 'Giant' actually means!
   From the picture, I can't judge whether they are gianter than other strains.. But for less than a fiver its worth a punt.
   Interestingly, the same supplier has a 3,000 seed offer which reads almost identically, but uses a different picture.
   The one you posted (5,000 seeds) shows some semi doubles and some slight picotees. (Very similar to Oregon Rainbow)
   The 3,000 seed offer shows all singles and no picotees...... They are both, of course, 'Giant'!!
   

Tim DH

[Tim Harberd]

Two years on... and I've got some large single Icelandics at last... I'll try for some better photos as the season progresses, but here are a couple of starters. Last year I got quite a lot of (IMHO) ugly doubles.

Tim DH

[Gail]

Funny you should post this, last week I was just thinking I miss Icelandic poppies and have ordered some Papaver nudicaule, 'Wind Song', F2 Hybrid from Chiltern Seeds, they say "Superb poppy variety with extra-large flowers in many beautiful pastel shades of pinks, apricots, oranges, creams and whites. This is our replacement for the no longer available 'Meadow Pastels' (for £2.75).

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Gail,
   That’s one of the ‘joys’ of catalogue listings…. What does ‘extra large’ mean? My standard Icelandics are about 6cm across and on very wiry stems.. My best large ones are about 12cm across and stand on thick straight stems!
   I’m marking up good flower stems with a tag of gaffer tape, so if you fancy some seed of 12cm flowers next year, let me know.
   By the way… Does anyone know about the genetics of these things? I’m guessing the giants might be a tetraploid strain??

Tim DH