SHIRLEY POPPIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1010, 28 June 1930, Page 30

SHIRLEY POPPIES

It is an excellent time to prepare the ,ground for the planting of seeds of charming annuals. One time Shirley Poppies held a high place in the esteem of many gardeners, but we seldom meet with them in a garden nowadays. The best soil for all varieties of poppies is a fairly rich friable loam, containing a small proportion of sharp sand or grit. Sandy soils will require the additions of well-rotted stable or cow manure and also a sprinkling of bonedust. Heavy soils must be lightened by the addition of lime and well-decayed manure, together with bonedust. Do not apply the lime and manure together. The lime first three weeks or more before the manure. As the plants require plenty of water during the dry weather, it is necessary that the soil be well drained, but containing sufficient humus to enable it to retain a good quantity of moisture. Shirley poppies are fairly hardy and may be sown anywhere for late spring flowering. Seeds may be sown in seed beds and will be ready for transplanting into their flowering quarters in the early spring, where they will grow rapidly and come quickly into bloom. In the colder districts, however, the gardener will find that the Shirley seedlings need a certain amount of attention to carry them over the winter and that he will gain little by early sowing. August and .September sowing therefore are the best in such climates and as the poppies do not transplant after'about July, it is advisable to sow the seeds where they are to grow, afterward thinning the plants out to about 9in apart. If you have to transplant the seedlings, see that the seeds are sown thinly and the seedlings thinned out in the seed-box to stand about an inch apart. They may then be lifted out with a fair-size piece of soil attached. Flowers may be expected in the warmer districts from September onward.