Icelandic poppy problems

6 years ago

Hi all, I live in zone 10a in the San Francisco bay area. I bought a couple Icelandic "sherbet" poppies at Annie's Annuals during the February heat wave and planted shortly after in my yard. They began producing buds within the month but the foliage didn't ever get all that large. One plant developed the long, graceful stems usually associated with poppies and has since had a few blooms. The other developed huge flower buds on a very, very oddly short and squat stems. The buds sat there for literally months. They looked like they were going to pop for weeks, but nothing. I finally removed one of the "shells" and there were petals, but they never opened. I checked it yesterday and when I touched the petals they fell off, revealing a hollow center with what looked like a semi rotted interior. I checked another of the long standing buds and it was the same. There are new buds on the same plant but they are weirdly misshapen. They all look brown and burnt. The foliage on both plants has faded to a light green, too.

I have never grown Icelandic poppies before, only Oriental, and I've never seen anything like this bud problem. My experience with Oriental poppies was pretty much scatter the seeds, water, and watch a profusion of plants grow, bloom, die, and then start all over the next year on their own.

What is going on here? How can I fix it?

Thanks

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
hard to help without a pic ...

but even without a pic ... it might be more cost efficient.. to just buy replacements ...

there must have been some severe stress that caused them to stop growing ... perhaps they were greenhouse grown.. and not hardened off properly prior to the sale "????

ken
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
Not sure you can. While not native to Iceland, that name should provide some insight that these are subarctic plants that dislike hot dry conditions. In your climate, they will be cool season annuals only. Even in cooler, milder and damper climates like mine, they are rarely very perennial and only last a season or two at most.

Failure of the flower buds to open is typically associated with heat stress.
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Tastie Cereale
Original Author
6 years ago
The thing that gets me is that I see many Icelandic poppies thriving in my area. And whatever happened to the one plant is weird. I bought and planted both plants at the same time. They are within a couple feet of each other. So pretty weird that one would have these weird, squat stems with buds that never open while the other is "normal."
Tastie Cereale
Original Author
6 years ago
I'll try and get some photos later. I have a few, but the light was terrible so it's hard to see the buds.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
i dont know what this event was.. but why are they selling plants that wont grow locally???

ken
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
Did you get the name of the nursery, ken? Annie's Annuals ?? Of course they sell plants that grow in that area but they are not necessarily perennial or even a year long resident of a warm/dry climate garden.
Tastie Cereale
Original Author
6 years ago
As I mentioned, Icelandic poppies do grow in my area, and grow quite well. Annie's Annual's sells plants that grow in this area, and they had amazing ones growing outside. I am 9 miles away in the same growing zone as the nursery, and have pretty much the same microclimate (which can vary significantly here even within a mile). If not for the SIP and it being a beautiful Sunday = a ton of people at the nursery despite SIP order, I'd just go over there and ask them. But they are too busy to answer phones now that so many people have become gardeners while sheltering in place.