Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) in the Poppies Database

General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit:	Herb/Forb
Life cycle:	Annual
Sun Requirements:	Full Sun
Water Preferences:	Mesic
Plant Height:	3 feet
Flowers:	Showy
Flower Color:	Orange Pink Red Yellow
Bloom Size:	1"-2"
Flower Time:	Summer
Underground structures:	Taproot
Uses:	Culinary Herb Cut Flower
Edible Parts:	Seeds or Nuts
Eating Methods:	Raw Cooked
Resistances:	Birds Deer Resistant Rabbit Resistant Squirrels
Propagation: Seeds:	Self fertile Other info: Self seeds
Pollinators:	Self Bees
Miscellaneous:	Tolerates poor soil

Common names

Opium Poppy
Breadseed Poppy
Peony-Flowered Poppy
Feathered Poppy
Poppy

Botanical names

Accepted: Papaver somniferum
Synonym: Papaver somniferum var. paeoniflorum
Synonym: Papaver somniferum subsp. setigerum
Synonym: Papaver paeoniflorum

Also sold as:

Papaver paeoniiflorum

Photo Gallery

Location: In my Northern California garden
Date: 2015-04-13

By zuzu

By ge1836

By GrammaChar

Location: In my Northern California garden
Date: 2009-05-21

By zuzu

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2019-06-29
- A tangle of stamens for the Bee to circumnavigate. #pollination

By HemNorth

Location: My garden, KY
Date: 2022-05-18

By poisondartfrog

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2016-07-10
- Intricate inner petals.

By HemNorth

Location: San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio, Texas
Date: 2022-04-04

By sedumzz

Location: Richmond
Date: 2015-06-13
Papaver somniferum (var. paeoniflorum)

By kylaluaz

Location: Mentor on the Lake, Ohio
Date: 2018-06-25
Winter sown

By Samlav

By piksihk

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2016-09-20
4:02 pm. A colour to cherish.

By HemNorth

By robertduval14

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2015-06-24
- The fuzzy, fluffy look.

By HemNorth

By sedumzz

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2012-0702

By pirl

By MrGrimGarden

Location: My garden in N E Pa.
Date: 2016-06-25

By treehugger

Location: My garden in N E Pa.
Date: 2017-06-14

By treehugger

By TexasPlumeria87

Location: In Lethy's garden in Oklahoma City, OK
Date: 2021-05-17

By jathton

Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2016-05-06
Underside of the bloom

By TexasPlumeria87

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2012-0610

By pirl

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2016-06-21
Opium Poppy - Pure and Simple.

By HemNorth

Location: roberta ga
Date: 5-3-2018
mixed colours

By stone

By TexasPlumeria87

Location: Vladivostok, Primorsky Kraj, Russia
Date: 2006-08-03
Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)

By Nick_Kurzenko

Location: My garden Bullard Texas
Date: 2018-04-06

By Maxmom98

By 4susiesjoy

Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: 2012-06-13

By chelle

Location: In Lethy's garden in Oklahoma City, OK
Date: 2021-05-17
Papaver orientale 'Helen Elizabeth'

By jathton

By LindaTX8

Location: garden of botanist Robert R. Kowal in Madison, Wisconsin
Date: June 25, 2012
photo by James Steakley

By robertduval14

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2012-0619

By pirl

Location: Warren, Vermont
Date: 2016-07-26

By PoppyLady420

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar BC
Date: 2015-06-20
10:33 am. So many variations in this kind of poppy.

By HemNorth

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar BC
Date: 2015-06-20
10:33 am. I love the gentle colour of this one.

By HemNorth

Location: My garden in N E Pa.
Date: 2017-06-25
This poppy is called Feathered Scarlet.

By treehugger

Location: At a nursery
Date: Jun 9, 2009 11:24 AM

By Calif_Sue

By molanic

Location: My garden, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2014-06-08

By bonitin

Location: My garden, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2014-06-09

By bonitin

Location: Sun zone 6
Date: 2010-07-04
Self sowing and very prolific. I just weded out when too crowded.

By ge1836

By MrGrimGarden

By jathton

Location: In my garden in Kalama, Wa.
Date: Mid Summer

By Joy

By jathton

By Joy

Photo Courtesy of Select Seeds. Used with permission.

By Joy

Location: In Zuzu's garden
Date: 2012-05-12

By Calif_Sue

Location: Arvada, Colorado zone 5
Date: juky 2009

By tabby

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2012-0619
Growing with Japanese irises and astilbe

By pirl

By DomehomeDee

Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C.
Date: 2014-07-15
The inner core.

By HemNorth

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2015-0618

By pirl

By SCButtercup

By SCButtercup

Location: in a neighbor's garden
Date: 05-14-2020

By jathton

By molanic

By 4susiesjoy

By jmorth

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2012-06-05

By jmorth

By TexasPlumeria87

By chelle

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 3-18-2021
Winter Sown poppies germinating, 2021

By dnrevel

Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: 2012-07-02

By chelle

By robertduval14

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2014-0616
First poppy flower of the year opened. Allium azureum in the fore

By pirl

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2013-11-02

By jmorth

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2012-0609

By pirl

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2009-06-13

By jmorth

Location: Old pine stump garden
Date: 2015-10-23
Garden view.

By pirl

Location: Cheyenne, Wyoming
Date: 2013-07-28

By MrsBinWY

By molanic

By molanic

By molanic

By jathton

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Date: 2020-07-01
Pink Breadseed poppy, Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)

By dnrevel

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2013-05-07

By jmorth

Location: Northeastern Indiana - Zone 5b
Date: 2011-04-03
Wintersown seedlings.

By chelle

Location: My garden in N E Pa.
Date: 2017-06-18
Various colors and forms.

By treehugger

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2012-05-06

By jmorth

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2013-10-05

By jmorth

By piksihk

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2012-08-01

By jmorth

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2012-05-15

By jmorth

Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: 2012-06-28
Semi-double form

By chelle

By robertduval14

By robertduval14

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2017-05-18

By jmorth

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2007
poppies blowing in the wind

By jmorth

By jmorth

By piksihk

By piksihk

Location: CZ Sirem My garden
Date: 2015-06-20

By admin

Location: CZ Sirem My garden
Date: 4000-06-24

By admin

By admin

By admin

Location: central Illinois
Date: 2014-05-15

By jmorth

Location: In my garden in Kalama, Wa.
Date: 2009-08-25

By Joy

By Joy

Location: central Illinois
Date: 3-16-12

By jmorth

This plant is tagged in:

Comments:

Posted by jathton (Oklahoma City, OK - Zone 7a) on May 17, 2021 5:32 PM concerning plant:

How to completely surprise yourself in your own garden:
... First, get old
... Then, Go out to the garden some fine fall day and sow some flower seeds
... Go back inside and wait until spring.
... Go out to the garden some fine spring day and stand in stupefied amazement as you gaze on flowers emerging from the earth that you absolutely KNOW you did not plant
... At this point you might say something like, "Good Lord!!!"... or possibly, "Where in the world did those come from?"... or you might be feeling your oats and be inclined to say, "Look what I have wrought!!!!"
... If you choose declaration number three I'll suggest you also read the poem 'Ozymandias' by Shelley.

Any way you choose, however, there is no denying these Poppies make a striking statement.

Reply to this comment
Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Sep 19, 2016 10:16 PM concerning plant:

National flower of the Republic of Macedonia.

Reply to this comment

Plant Events from our members
dragonfetti	On January 20, 2015	Obtained plant From One Stop Poppy Shoppe
lovesblooms	On March 18, 2016	Seeds germinated
lovesblooms	On March 7, 2016	Seeds sown winter sown
piksihk	On April 1, 2017	Bloomed Self down seeds in veggie bed
Samlav	On March 18, 2018	Seeds germinated Winter sown January 10 in milk jug. Obtained seeds in seed swap purchase from Chiltern seeds. Seedlings have emerged.
MrsBinWY	On January 28, 2019	Seeds germinated activity in all 4 pots
MrsBinWY	On January 19, 2019	Seeds sown commercial seeds from poisondartfrog, 4 pots w/6 seeds each in cold sun room
dnrevel	On March 15, 2021	Seeds germinated See photo. Germinated in March!
dnrevel	On January 13, 2021	Seeds sown Winter Sown. Peony poppy, double blend from Botanical Interests.

» Post your own event for this plant

Discussion Threads about this plant

Thread Title	Last Reply	Replies
Wrong species by Danita	May 27, 2021 10:09 AM	7
Wrong species by Danita	May 18, 2021 4:55 PM	1

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Poppies Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)

Poppies

Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)