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Spiny Poppy
  • Spiny Poppy
  • Spiny Poppy – seed packet, front
Spiny Poppy

Spiny Poppy

€1,49 EUR
€1,49 EUR
Taxes included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

A remarkable plant that combines ornamental beauty with an uncommon environmental function.

About the variety. The prickly poppy produces single white flowers on spiny stems, reaching 40–60 cm in height. Its greatest asset is the ability to absorb herbicides and other pollutants from soil and air — a valuable ally in degraded or contaminated land. A honey plant, it attracts pollinators and adapts well to containers. Caution: the entire plant is poisonous; wear gloves when handling it.

Quantity per packet

  • €1,49
  • €5,99

VAT included. Shipping calculated at checkout.
Quantity per packet

Free shipping to mainland Portugal from €35. Below that, from €4.91.

Spiny Poppy

EU organic logo Certified organic PT-BIO-03 EU/non-EU Agriculture
Growing sheet

Spiny Poppy

EU organic logo Certified organic PT-BIO-03 EU/non-EU Agriculture
Sowing depth0.5–1 cm
Spacing 20 × 30–40 cmin the row × between rows
Plant height40–60 cm
Ideal temperature15–25 °C
Soil pH6.0–7.5

Sowing calendar

JanJ FebF MarM AprA MayM JunJ JulJ AugA SepS OctO NovN DecD
Direct sowing
Flowering
JanJ FebF MarM AprA MayM JunJ JulJ AugA SepS OctO NovN DecD
Direct sowing
Flowering

Indicative windows; adjust them to your local climate.

  • Bee-friendly
  • Suitable for pots
  • Direct sowing

Growing guide

How to grow spiny poppy?

A step-by-step growing guide, from sowing to harvest.

Sowing

Sow direct where it is to flower, half a centimetre to one centimetre deep. Do not sow in trays for transplanting: this species has a taproot and transplanting either ruins the plant or sets it back badly. Germination takes seven to fifteen days. Sow after the last frosts for summer flowering, or in autumn in a mild climate for early spring flowers. Thin without hesitation once the plants have four true leaves, to the spacing given: crowded plants give weak stems and few flowers. At about 60 centimetres tall, this variety grows well in a pot twenty centimetres deep with drainage holes.

Soil

It adapts to ordinary free draining soils at a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Over rich soil is counter productive: it gives tall leafy plants with few flowers, and that is the commonest mistake in flower beds. If the soil is heavy, work in coarse sand or compost to improve drainage, because standing water in winter rots the roots.

Climate

It wants full sun, at least six hours a day, and temperatures between 15 °C and 25 °C. With less sun the plants go leggy and flower poorly. Frost ends the cycle. On the Portuguese coast and in southern Spain it takes the heat well and flowers right through the summer. Inland in Iberia water more through the dry months. In France and Germany the natural season is spring and summer, sowing once the soil has warmed steadily. In Italy the same rule applies as in the rest of the Mediterranean: spring and autumn in the centre and south, spring and summer in the north. At the height of summer flowering slows and the flowers come smaller: light shade over midday and regular watering keep the plant going.

Fertilisation

It needs very little. Ordinary soil with some mature compost is enough, and excess nitrogen is counter productive because it gives plenty of leaf and few flowers. To push flowering, apply a potassium rich feed when the first buds appear.

Watering

Water regularly during establishment and moderately after that, letting the surface dry between waterings. Water at the base in the morning, because wet flowers rot and damp foliage brings powdery mildew.

Weed control

Hoe often and always shallowly: the taproot goes deep, but the fine roots that feed it run near the surface and break easily. The best method is to prepare the bed two or three weeks in advance, let the first flush of weeds germinate, remove it and only then sow: that gives you a decisive head start. A thin layer of sieved compost between the rows greatly reduces later work.

Pest control

Aphids gather on flower buds and soft tips and are the commonest pest: apply potassium soap and encourage ladybirds and hoverflies, which do most of the work. Slugs and snails destroy seedlings: protect with an ash barrier in the first weeks. Thrips and red spider mite appear in dry heat. Avoid spraying during flowering, so you do not harm pollinators.

Diseases

Powdery mildew covers the leaves with white bloom at the end of summer and is nearly unavoidable on crowded plants: space well and apply potassium bicarbonate at the first signs. Botrytis rots the flowers in damp weather and damping off kills seedlings in waterlogged sowings. Remove faded flowers and diseased leaves regularly.

Harvest

Cut the flowers early in the morning, as they are opening but not yet fully open, and put them straight into water. Deadhead regularly: as long as no seed forms, the plant keeps flowering, and that is the one rule that really matters for extending the display. Leave a few flowers to set seed at the end of the season if you want natural self-sowing. The reference colour is white, and that is what tells you it is ready.

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