Oriental poppy 'Brilliant Red'

Papaver orientale

How to grow Oriental poppy 'Brilliant Red'

  • Full Sun

  • Low

When grown from seed, they will not bloom until their second year. The blooming period is short, lasting only a week or two. During this time, the plant may need to be staked to keep it from flopping over in rain or wind.

After blooming, foliage will die back until autumn, so pair this plant with summer-blooming annuals to fill in the space it leaves during dormancy.

Poppies are not tolerant of heavy, wet or clay based soils and are susceptible to rot in the winter if the soil stays wet for extended periods of time.

A full sun position will ensure your plant thrives and remember to apply water fairly sparingly. Keep in mind when planting that Brilliant Red is thought of as very hardy, so this plant will typically do well in a variety of different extremes of cold temperature. A soil ph of between 6.0 and 7.5 is ideal for Brilliant Red as it does best in weakly acidic soil - weakly alkaline soil.

Growing Brilliant Red from seed

The seeds need sunlight to germinate, so barely cover with soil when planting.

Sow at a depth of approx. 0.04 inches (0.1 cm) and aim for a distance of at least 2.92 inches (7.5 cm) between Oriental poppy plants. Soil temperature should be kept higher than 13°C / 55°F to ensure good germination.

By our calculations, you should look at sowing Brilliant Red about 49 days before your last frost date.

Transplanting Brilliant Red

Poppies have fine delicate roots and do not transplant well. Plants started from seed directly tend to be healthier.

As Brilliant Red is very hardy, ensure temperatures are mild enough to plant out - wait until after your last frost date to be on the safe side.

By our calculations, you should look at planting out Brilliant Red about 0 days after your last frost date.

Harvesting Brilliant Red

The seeds are ready for collecting about two weeks after flowering, when the seed pods dry out and turn gray-brown.

This variety tends to be ready for harvesting by early summer.

Other Names for Oriental poppy 'Brilliant Red'

Poppy Oriental Red