20180225 Planted high mowing & saved Hungarian bread seed ion sides of center row, Swiss on the north, Hungarian on the south.
HighMowing@CF&H, Papaveraceae: Papaver somniferum (breadseed poppy), Planéte Rouge du Jura , 250 mg/ [#] seed, ? days, 1/4 in deep, 2-6 in apart, “see EN", $cost
20180218 planted remaining Richters in west of driveway border
20180211 Flat 4 Richters & Hungarian blue
2018 seed Richters "A beautiful cool season annual with a mixture of single and double flowers in a riot of colours from pink to purple but most are blood red."
2017070x seed collected. Too late! 2017 Collected Seed
20170603 first bloom. Purple seems redder than blue.(Blue seed)
20170409 transplanted some of the Papaveraceae: Papaver somniferum that are too close to 'taters
20170225 planted in S square w/potatoes. Two spots marked with skewers, others sprinkled at whim

Planéte Rouge du Jura: Large, luxuriant 4-6" blooms are mostly lavender-pink with a few bright magenta heads mixed in. Each flower center is ringed by four deep eggplant markings. Blooms contrast attractively with the waxy gray-green, scalloped foliage. A rare Swiss variety originally developed for seed and poppy seed oil production.

(Papaver somniferum) Beautiful bluish-purple flowers give way to attractive pods filled with poppyseed for baking. Pods can also be used in dried arrangements. Stake seed heads to prevent seed loss. Plant in late fall to very early spring. Pkt (0.25 g, 500 seeds)

Culture: Annual. Germination: 60°F, darkness required, 6-10 days. Direct seed. 24-36 in. tall.


The seed pods will continue to increase in size for weeks after the petals fail. By late summer, the pods will begin to dry, turning silver gray. As they dry the seeds loosen and detach from the inner membranes along the seed wall. Watch your seed heads closely in their last few weeks. Harvest pods just after they dry or a little before fully dry, if you need to avoid seed loss. Avoid leaving pods so long that they lodge and rot. In sparse years, mice will climb the stems and chew a small hole in the base of the seed head. The pods still look great from a distance, but when you go to harvest them, they are empty. I clip the pods with a hand held pruner. Leave stems long for ornamental use or clip close the pod for ease of drying.
Poppies with sealed vents can be hung in bunches to fully dry. Spread seed heads to dry in an airy location for a few weeks. You may need to put them in flat containers so seed is not lost. Once pods are fully dry and brittle with seed rattling inside, either pour out the seed or break the pod and pour. Any chaff can be separated by a screen that lets the seed pass and holds the chaff. Poured seed is often chaff-free.
Let cleaned seed air dry for a day or two before storing it in a dry glass jar. Watch out for industrious mice. They can haul away a lot of seed in one night. Actually before you close that jar lid, take a few big pinches of seed and savor them. Now you share with generations of Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Russians, and so many more, the knowledge of how delicious this food is. I know I could have a great time learning how to use 50 kilograms of seed in one year. What a sight to see them in bloom.