Way Way off Topic: Any gardeners

[Marsha]

We planted this flower a couple of years ago, we thought it was a Red Poppy.
Anyone know what it is?
Thanks Marsha
Hope the pic works

[3_M]

Marsha,

I think they make opium from the seeds.

Mike M

[lucky788scroller]

WOW, I looked a little bit online, and it is very similar to the plant Mike said. Dale

[Marsha]

Are you guys spoofin me or what, It's not really opium! We bought it from a garden center.

Dale; what website did you find it on, I better have a look myself.

Mike; what seeds are you talkin about, do you mean the big brown pods, before the flower comes out?

Thanks
Marsha

[Woodbutcher68]

The opium comes from the sap they extract from the pod below the flower. Looks like it could be that type of poppy.

[Marsha]

I've looked around the internet and found this site, cause you guys really got me worried, I really don't want opium poppies growing in my yard.
After viewing the poppies on this website, I don't think what I have is a type of poppy, my flowers don't look anythink like these ones.

http://www.poppies.org/gallery/main?&page=7

Any other ideas?
Marsha

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Marsha,

It would make sense since opium is derived from the Poppy flower.

But you are not to worry, it is legal to own poppys.

California Poppy
Eschscholtzia californica

California Indians cherished the poppy as both a source of food and for oil extracted from the plant. Its botanical name, Schlitz californica, was given by Adelbert Von Chamisso, a naturalist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, who dropped anchor in San Francisco in 1816 in a bay surrounded by hills of the golden flowers. Also sometimes known as the flame flower, la amapola, and copa de oro (cup of gold), the poppy grows wild throughout California. It became the state flower in 1903. Every year April 6 is California Poppy Day, and Governor Wilson proclaimed May 13-18, 1996, Poppy Week.

It is illegal to own opium

Opium is a narcoticanalgesicdrug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L. or the synonym paeoniflorum). The seed capsules also contain morphine, codeine, and other alkaloids. These pods can be steeped in water to produce a bitter tea that induces a long-lasting intoxication.

Regards,
Marcel

[CanadianScroller]

It looks like a peony poppy to me.
Opium poppies do not have petals like that.
I have not heard of yellow opium flowers either. Nt that I have ever chased the Dragon before.!

[William Young (SE BC)]

Marsha;
If you hadn't said you "planted" them I would have thought you had got some thistles that can be purple , yellow, rose or white.
Is it possible that what you planted didn't come up but thistles did? EEK ! !
Without seeing them up closer they sure look a lot like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium

W.Y.

[William Young (SE BC)]

Hi Marsha;
After posting what I thought might be a thistle I went into one of my favorite gardening sites and I believe this is more realistic as to what you have there.

Centaurea macrocephala
Common Name: Armenian basket flower
Zone: 3 to 8
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Height: 3 to 4 feet
Spread: 1.5 to 2 feet
Bloom Time: June - July
Bloom Color: Yellow
Sun: Full sun (only)
Water: Dry to medium moisture
Maintenance: Low
Bright yellow 3-4" across thistle-like flowers enclosed in glossy, light brown bracts on strong, stiff stems. Blooms for 2-3 weeks in the mid-summer. Sometimes commonly called globe centaurea or yellow hardhat. Good cut and dried flower.

I was pretty sure it wasn't a poppy.

W.Y.