Saving Poppy Seed

by Doug
(In His Garden)

I have a question about saving poppy seed. I want to save the seeds of a beaufiul poppy plant I have. The plant is all yellow now with the seed pods still on the stems. Can I cut the pods off the stems and save them that way..... so I can cut down the rest of the plant. Or do the pods have to stay on the yellowed plant..... which no longer looks terrific in my garden.
Thanks for you help; I do enjoy your site and the information you provide.
Jan

Doug says

Seedsaving when it comes to poppies is incredibly easy. You'll find the seed pods are open at the top. Simply dump the contents of the seed pod into an envelope and store the envelope cool and dry to save the seed.

I usually bend the flower stem and dump/shake the seeds into the container. You can cut them off if you're inclined to do so - the only thing to watch is that the seeds are quite loose in the pod and will slop out with a moment's invitation.

And then cut down the plant to green foliage.

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Saving Poppy Seed

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Exploding seedpods
by: Doug

You're right, the California poppies will do that and your solution is a good one. The oriental poppies will open when ripenbut not "burst" to spread seeds

More on Poppy Seeds
by: marilyn

After saving poppy seeds (the Calif kind not oriental) I decided they must be named "poppies" because when the seed pod is fully ripe it pops open scattering the seeds so I haven't had much success gathering seeds from pods open at the tip. I've tried gathering those pods that look ready to pop and put them in a paper bag and let them open in that closed container and later I screen out the pods and other debris.

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Doug Green