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Poppy rotting

allymountain13allymountain13 Posts: 68
in Plants
Bought a big red poppy last year. Foliage lovely but the flower opened at soil level! This yr. the foliage is even more beautiful but  deep down in the centre, the shoots are brown and wet. What's wrong?
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Posts

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Oriental poppies are pretty tough. Can you say more about your soil, drainage and light levels?
  • allymountain13allymountain13 Posts: 68
    Soil is close to neutral but does have a touch of alkaline. Good loam well drained, against a fence facing east so gets full sun in mornings.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    It ought to be fine. The winter hasn't been too bad. I don't know,  perhaps someone wiser will comment.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I used to have Patty's Plum, but one year she did the same, rotted off for no good reason. :'(
    Devon.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    edited March 2019
     I’ve got a big one that blooms with whopping great flowers but I wondered if it would do any better in full sun, it’s in shade at the moment and hardly gets sun at all, if so, could I move it now? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    You can move them but they sulk a bit. Dig as deep as you can, the root goes down miles and is very brittle.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wonder if that's just a weather issue with ally's poppy. 
    Did it get snowed on, which has then thawed in the crown, causing an excess of damp there? 
    The fact that it's already flowered too- it seems very early, but perhaps because of the unseasonal warmth last month, it had a spurt, and then sudden wet/cold. With it facing east - maybe it's a bit like Camellia buds/flowers getting damaged  after frosts. 

    Not sure if that makes any sense, so ignore me if that's the case!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Posy said:
    You can move them but they sulk a bit. Dig as deep as you can, the root goes down miles and is very brittle.
    If they have a deep tap root I’m inclined to leave it where it is, thank you for advise. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    scrape away the soil and cut a root in August and use it for root cuttings.
    Devon.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    @Hostafan1.  Good idea, I’ll do that. Thank you.  But my original question was, should it be in full sun or shade? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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