Blue Poppy Flower Seed

Blue Poppy - Meconopsis Betonicifolia Blue Himalayan

Season: Perennial
Zones: 6 - 8
Height: 4 - 6 feet
Bloom Season: Late Summer to Early Fall
Bloom Color: Blue
Environment: Shade, Moist but Well Drained

The genus Meconopsis includes Himalayan Blue Poppies, but includes other flowers with many other colors including: red, white, pink, and salmon. One thing all poppy flower seeds have in common is a preference for cool, moist shady places. Blue poppies have large delicate petals held in a cup shape, except for some rare double forms of blue poppy which is only found in one species. All Meconopsis flower seed species except one are native to the Himalayan region of Asia. They were first found by flower seekers around 150 years ago, but did not become well known until the 1900's. Meconopsis betonicifolia is the blue poppy that you will find for sale, but it was not the original flower that was brought back from the Himalayan mountains so long ago.

All the blue poppies grow pretty much the same way. They produce a rosette of bristly leaves which repel water, then in late spring they send up a flower shoot several feet tall which produces one or more terminal flowers usually followed by further flowers lower down the stalk. Most of these flowers will tend to want to droop, but others will stick almost straight out to the side. Blue poppy flower seed can range in a wide variety of shades of blue. Alkaline soils produce more violet shades of blue even in cultivars which would normally be a pale blue. Therefore, you can adjust your color by adjusting the pH of your soil with either lime or gypsum. Lime will raise the pH of your soil whereas gypsum will lower the pH of your soil which in turn will change the shade of blue for your blue poppy flower. In warmer or drier climates, the plant may die during the summer and never return as the blue poppy is not heat nor drought tolerant. The flowering rosettes die as winter arrives, but strong flower seed plants will have produced offset rosettes and so will spread into a clump over the years. Weaker plants which have not produced offsets will die completely. All the blue poppy variations are herbaceous and very cold hardy, although they may rot in wet soil. Keep soil aerated so it does not remain saturated and your blue poppy flower seed will do great.

The blue poppy flower plants are self-fertile with the flower seed pods maturing in mid to late summer. Each of these blue poppy pods produces thousands of flower seeds. The flower seed will germinate very quickly if conditions are cool and moist, but stored blue poppy seed becomes difficult and slow to germinate. One of the most frustrating aspects of growing these plants from flower seed is the tendency to damp off at the first true leaf stage. If you have any way of keeping the seedlings cool it may be possible to avoid this problem. Blue poppies prefer cold temperatures and grow well when temperatures are around freezing or even slightly below freezing; however, it is very sensitive to strong sun or hot dry conditions. Take caution when planting blue poppy flower seed to ensure you have the proper growing environment.