The flower on our packet, from a pinch of seeds to a red thing in a vase. Ten weeks, five minutes a week.
Papaver rhoeas. The field poppy. It grows in the cracks of car parks, which tells you how hard it is to kill. Here is how to grow it on purpose.
When
Spring or early autumn. Poppies like cool starts. Indoors on a sunny sill you can get away with most of the year as long as the window gets real sun.
Sow
Fill a pot with damp potting mix. Take a pinch of seeds, mix them with a pinch of dry sand so you can see where they land, and scatter them over the surface. Do not cover them. Poppy seeds need light to germinate. Press them gently into the soil with your palm.
The first two weeks
Mist the surface every day so it never dries out. Seedlings show in 7 to 14 days and they are tiny, like green threads. This is normal. Keep misting.
Thin them
When seedlings have four leaves, pull out the weakest until the strong ones are about 4 inches apart. You will feel bad. Crowded poppies make no flowers, so do it anyway.
Then leave them alone
Water when the top inch of soil is dry. No food. Poppies flower better in soil that is a little poor. Expect buds around week eight and flowers around week ten.
Cut them
Cut in the morning when the bud is just cracking open. Sear the cut end in hot water for ten seconds and they last three or four days in the vase instead of one. Keep cutting and the plant keeps making more.
Every flower lasts a day or two. That is not a flaw. It is the point.
Get dirty.
