How to grow poppies in winter

For years I thought poppies were one of the glories of spring and summer — stunning sprawls of California poppies in vivid orange, yellows, reds and even cream and white, flagrantly elegant oriental poppies. They’re the sort of flower you stop and stare at because you can’t believe that one thin-stemmed bloom could look quite so stunning.

But then one day I saw a garden in Canberra filled with Iceland poppies — in mid-winter. Impossible. Iceland poppies bloom in spring and summer. Yet there they were, in what is possibly the coldest climate of any Australian capital city.

What was the gardener’s secret? It was simple: she didn’t know anything about gardening, so had planted the seeds in early autumn instead of late winter. And there they were: yellows, reds, oranges, a host of glowing mixed winter colour.

Since then I’ve grown my own winter Iceland poppies and encouraged others to grow them in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Perth. I suspect they’d grow in Darwin quite happily in winter too.

Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicaule) don’t really come from Iceland. I’m not sure how they got the name. Maybe it was because they survive such cold climates, though they grow well in hot climates too, as long as they are grown in the cold months. In fact they come from Siberia, another place of extreme temperature variation, but they’ll bloom well in both hot and very cold climates if sown at the right times in a sunny aspect and kept moist.

If you plant poppies in early autumn they’ll flower at the beginning of winter and, if kept well fed and watered with the seed heads nipped off, will keep blooming until Christmas. Basically, they flower longer in cool weather and each individual flower lasts longer and hot weather and lengthening days make them put most of their energy into forming seed heads, not new flowers.

Sow seeds on top of garden beds and sprinkle them lightly with soil. They shouldn’t be planted deeply. Make sure your chosen area is weed-free. If you’re re-homing punnets of seedlings, plant them about a hand-span apart. You’ll need about 20 plants per square metre for a thick display, as the stems are thin (and hairy). They also grow beautifully in big pots, and produce enough flowers for the pot to be covered in colour.

There are a few tricks to getting the most stunning and long-lasting display of Iceland poppies. The first is to pick off the first flower buds (this can be a challenging exercise in self-discipline) so that the plants are strong and sturdy before they bear their first blooms. Just twist off the tiny bulges in the middle of the rosette with your fingers. While Iceland poppies will still flower in droughts they won’t give much of a display.

The second trick is to water often, and feed them every week with a soluble fertiliser designed for maximum flower production. Once seedlings are about 10cm high, stop feeding them high-nitrogen water-soluble fertilisers and swap to using high-potassium water-soluble fertilisers. This will promote long flowering and slow down growth. (If you garden organically, a mulch of good homemade compost will probably be all they need.)

Iceland poppy is also very popular with councils, especially the “oranges and lemons” variety. Most councils don’t have the resources to de-head their poppies every couple of days, so instead they spray with a water-soluble potassium fertiliser every two weeks. This keeps the blossoms coming for up to two months so that, in spite of dead flower heads remaining, the colourful blooms dominate.

While there are perennial poppies, such as California and Matilda poppies, Iceland poppies aren’t one of them. They are annuals and need to be planted again every year. But like many annuals, they give an extraordinary display in your garden.

And if you want a host of orange, yellow, gold, pink, red and white dancing about your garden this winter and in spring and early summer, find some Iceland poppy seeds now. It is impossible to see a bed of Iceland poppies in the chill of winter and not smile.

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