I am not an expert but I'm happy to share my limited experience with you.

I have two oriental poppies, red and orange. The first one I planted is red and was very slow for the first two years. The second is orange and I moved it this spring so I know I must wait atleast another next year. They are planted in an alkaline clay based soil and only get part sun so I don't expect them to do as well as those planted in full sun.

What I have found with the oriental poppies is that they have a couple of scraggly years and then one big knock your socks off year then back down to scraggly for a year or two. I started mine from seed a few years back...the bright orange were the first to bloom with some of the the other colours taking two to 4 years to show their first bloom. Don't know, maybe it had to do with where they were planted.....but with the orange ones it didn't seem to matter.

I purchased a white one this spring, it was small but had a bud on it.....it looks quite sad in the garden...but should look much better next spring.

Sierra

Debbie if you started them by seed last year, they are still young and will probably not put out any blooms till their 3rd year. They are not fussy about soil, but they do need excellent drainage. They are most likely going into dormancy if the foliage is turning brown and ratty looking.

Sharon

Thanks all for your comments. This will be the 3rd year since I started them from seed. They did bloom last year but were not what I had hoped them do be; must remember patience in gardening! Sharon, drainage may well be an issue. Will have to wait and see how these guys do before I committ to any others; I've seen some gorgeous white and pinks among others. Did try some patty's plum from seed last year but they did not survive.

Hi Debbie,
I've had success with direct sowing oriental poppies (a mix from William Dam w/ pink, red, and white blooms) They didn't bloom the first year but the second year they were spectacular! I think they bloomed again the third year but we moved sometime in there and I can't quite recall how many years they bloomed for me. Sadly, I had saved a bunch of seed from them and promptly lost them during the move.

They were planted alone in one area almost on the south edge of the garden in full sun. The soil was silty with a touch of clay, but I had no drainage issues there. I wouldn't hesitate to try them again, but somehow I keep forgetting to add them to my order. The blooms were just huge and they were about 3' tall with dark green fuzzy almost prickly foilage.

Note to self...remember to add them to my order this winter!!

Toots

I've never grown them. My brother has a Royal Wedding that was planted last year. His soil is very well drained and rocky. His poppy is huge over, two feet wide and tall and has over a dozen buds and flowers. After seeing his I went and got a Patty's Plum and two Little Candyfloss.

I have two clumps of bright orange oriental poppies, that I started from seed years ago. They are huge - over two feet wide, lots of buds and blossoms. So far this year the flowers are suffering from the rain, but there are still lots of buds. They are well-mulched, crowded in with other really big perennials like Shasta daisy. They get a fair bit of water, but have good drainage, and actually never even go dormant. I just trim the seed pods off them, and cage them in with those little wire fences so they don't flop all over after blooming. If you can ever get them well started, Debbie, you'll love them.
Mine took a few years to really get going.
Connie