Does it surprise you that one plant could be the source of a powerful pain-relieving medicine, a highly addictive drug, AND a much loved garden flower?
I am talking about the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) that, despite being the source of morphine, codeine, and heroin, is very often featured in decorative gardens. This flower is full of contradictions. The cultivation of the flower and sale of the sap is restricted or illegal in many countries. And yet you can find the seeds for this plant in many grocery stores as a condiment all over the world. You can even find them sprinkled on top of the famous "poppy seed muffins"
Weird, right?
Well, not really. This is a highly attractive flower to grow for many reasons. They are beautiful, bees love them and they bloom when nothing else does. I have been growing opium poppies for many years and am always delighted by their bright shades of pink and red that are of the first to grace my garden in later winter. While all the other flowers (except maybe calendula) haven't even sprouted poppies thrive in cold temperatures and even require a freeze in order to germinate.
My own poppy HerbLore comes from being a student of anthropology about 10 years ago. I was focusing on cultural anthropology, specifically human's relationship with herbal and psychedelic medicine. I didn't want to read about the plants, I wanted to grow them, experience their full life cycle from seed to harvest.
And so I started a medicine & psychedelic garden in my shared backyard. And when I moved to an apartment with my boyfriend at the time we combined our collection of peyote, san pedro cacti, poppy flowers, and cannabis plants on our small balcony. Each winter I sprinkled poppy seeds (bought from my local health food store) and a layer of compost over them before the coldest weather settled in.
Now, years and years later, I no longer experiment with the consumption of poppies, I just grow them. And I was so happy to see several of them had sprouted in the pathways around my house. It is strange since I must have sprinkled hundreds of seeds during late fall. Somehow they didn't take in any of the garden beds but now I have transplanted them there. Blossoms coming soon!
