Poppies *

(Question)

I have poppy seeds that were given to me and always bloomed purple on inside and a beautiful pink. there was always one stem with a flower on the end.

Last year it was growing nicely and then it turned into a giant bush about 2 feet tall and the buds looked and bloomed like a peony.

This year in the same spot that it grew last year the leaves started to come back up again and it bloomed this morning and it was PEACH! I am so confused. how it could go from a normal poppy to a peony bush looking poppy to a one stem one flower peach poppy. the middle is light and same color. I have attached a photo of all three variations

(Answer)

 

Astonishing.

We we can try to give you some explanations.

  • The seeds given to you were a mix of seeds.
  • The seeds are hybrid and not stabilized.
  • It happens sometimes; you can see some pictures here.
  • They were cross pollinated by insects, it happens often with annual poppies (they are prohibited in Canada)

You could propagate from the original plant of the seeds given to you, which means they will be identical as the mother.

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