Plant Oriental Poppies in your garden and enjoy a thrill that perhaps you 
have never before experienced. 
“For dazzling barbaric splendor, the great Oriental Poppies are absolutely 
unrivaled. Standing out in bold relief against a background of green, they 
command instant attention, and a mass of them in bloom is a sight never to be 
forgotten.”—B. H. Farr. 
The stamens of Poppies are said to be the most beautiful stamens of all 
flowers. The gigantic flowers sometimes reach a diameter of 10 inches or more. 
Says Dr. J. H. Neeley: “Varying from red to orange, salmon to pink, 
mulberry to white, this barbaric flower offers a wide range of colors, is free from 
disease, fairly hardy and easy to transplant.” 
‘It has been well said that the blood of all the poppies runs red; that all 
are harmonious, all appealing, but among the family as a whole, there is none 
so regal as the Oriental Poppy.” 
CULTURE 
The chief requirement of this most striking plant is that it should be moved 
only after the beginning of the dormant season about the first to the middle of 
August, and from then until the ground freezes in the fall. It is important in 
transplanting that the plant be set deep enough to place the crowns three inches 
below the surface. It is well also, to set the plants at an angle of 45 degrees or 
more so that water will not be trapped by the hollow crowns of large plants. 
After planting, the ground should not be allowed to dry out before the roots 
become established. After the ground freezes, a light covering of straw or coarse 
litter should be placed over the ground to prevent the plants from being heaved 
out by alternate freezing and thawing which, in our experience, is the most 
common cause of winter killing. Plants also may be killed by planting where 
water will stand over the crowns in winter, or by cutting off the crowns after 
growth starts in the spring. Direct contact of air or of water with the crowns 
are the most frequent causes of failure with poppies. Special care should be 
taken immediately after the blooming season to see that exposed crowns are 
well covered with fresh earth. 
The plants like full sun, but do well in partial shade, especially certain of 
the darker colored varieties. It is well also when transplanting to make a fresh 
diagonal cut with a sharp knife at the base of the root, so that a freshly cut 
surface may be exposed to the soil. Plant about two feet apart. 
We do not recommend spring planting, but it may prove successful if done 
by April 15, if special care is given. 
Many new hybrid varieties have been introduced in recent years, greatly 
extending the color range and showing much improvment in habit and form. 
SHIPMENTS 
Shipments of Poppy plants begin about the middle of August and may 
continue until the ground freezes. 
SIZE OF PLANTS 
Prices except as noted are for LARGE, FIELD GROWN PLANTS, AT 
LEAST TWO YEARS FROM PROPAGATION. Some nurseries claim that 
pot-grown plants give entirely satisfactory results. Other extensive nurseries 
agree with us that they are much inferior, and that large, field-grown plants not 
only are much more likely to live and grow well, but also that in the great 
majority of cases they bloom earlier and more generously. 
The wonderful blooms may be kept for several days as cut flowers if the 
freshly cut stems are immediately singed at the cut surface, or if the stems are 
plunged at once into boiling water for a moment or two, and then placed in 
cold water. 
A capital R. before the color in description of Oriental Poppies indicates that 
the color values are those found in “Color Standards and Nomenclature” by 
Ridgway. 
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