Anni Jensen writes about Papaver tauricola

>Is anyone familiar with this plant?  I picked one up at the Grand Lake Ace
>Hardware nursery in Oakland yesterday.  The label said it was a perennial,
>native to Turkey, and has 5" orange flowers with green centers.  The foliage
>is bluish-green with soft prickles.  I'd like to hear from anyone who has
>grown it to find out what its cultural requirements are.  Also, I was
>wondering if any of the folks that I sent poppy seeds to have had any
>success.  This year's plants have already gone to seed in my garden, so there
>are plenty for anyone who is interested.  Thanks.
>
>Kurt Mize
>Stockton, California
>USDA Zone 9


Hi Kurt
A belated note on Papaver tauricola.
As the propagator for the nursery that introduced the plant to California
this year I felt compelled to seek more information about it, but further
information was hard to find. Chiltern (which supplied us with the seed)
was correct when it said that this poppy is 'apparently new to
cultivation'. I finally found it in Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean
Islands, a 10 volume tome by P.H.Davis.
P. tauricola is a biennial herb with bristly pinnatisect leaves and
branched stems with many flower buds showing long , orange-brown hairs. The
petals will be red to orange. It appears that Christopher Lloyd does not
have the true Papaver tauricola, I hope that we do. A precocious plant
bloomed at the nursery, and the flower was pink, very pretty I was told.
Cultivation? The natural habitat is on screes and rocky slopes in the
Taurus mountains which probably means good drainage. I put some in pots and
some in the ground (clay) just to see what will happen. The related P.
triniifolium,which also grows on screes in Turkey, is tricky in the ground,
sometimes the root liquifies with rot, sometimes it does OK for a few
years.
Good luck with your plant.
Anni Jensen

PS. The flowers are not 5". The plant is 15" tall - sometimes the number 1
does not print well on the label.That is my best guess at where the number
5 comes from, and then it must have been unclear what it referred to. Sorry
about that.
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