The 5 Day Poppy Plan

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The Snow Goose has landed. The very first poppy of the season is in bloom. Get a look at it and learn how to make a cut poppy last 5 days.

In a real move of dominance in the neighbourhood, I cut the first two poppies that were about to bloom in my front yard essentially robbing the whole neighbourhood of the first viewing.

Nobody will mess with me after that kind of move.

This particular variety is called Snow Goose, and I took a photo of it a few years ago that shows how spectacular it is when opened. But I wanted to show these photos of it just minutes after it bloomed.

It looks a lot like a pale pink rose.

Until I read Erin Benzakein's blog Floret and subsequently bought all of her books I didn't really know a ton about growing flowers. I did it and I liked it but I wasn't as maniacal as I was with vegetable gardening.

Then I read her book Cut Flower Garden and everything changed. And not in a subtle way.

In a 12 year old turning 13 year old sort of way.

It was in that book that I learned excellent tricks to keeping poppies alive for more than a day.

Table of Contents

The 5 Day Poppy Plan

Cut the poppy when the shell covering the flower has just barely cracked. Don't wait for the flower to open before you cut it.
Cut it in the morning because this is when it has the most moisture in it therefore it'll live longer.
When you bring the poppy inside, cut the end again to the length you want the stem and then burn the end with a flame immediately*. The poppy stem releases a sticky sap that will clog it and prevent it from taking up water. Burning the end of the stem cauterizes it. (I use my gas stove but you can use a lighter)
Put it in a very clean vase, with water and yes - one of those flower food packets if you have one. They do actually help add life to your flower.

* You can also recut the stem and put it in very hot water for a few seconds. You'll be able to see all the air bubbles releasing from the stem. Both methods have worked for me.

Day 1 - Cracked bud stage

Day 2 - Cracked bud stage (but a bigger crack now)

Would you like to save this stuff?

We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

Day 3 - Shell will fall off, flower is revealed

Day 4 - Full display

Day 5 - Full display

Day 6 - You might get lucky, but generally this is where things start to go downhill.

In honour of the first bloom, today's puzzle is indeed the Snow Goose poppy.

The 15 Piece Puzzle

I am proud to say that completing a 15 piece puzzle took me over 1 minute. I say that because I'm guessing that's about average and there's nothing wrong with being average.

Being average means you're never expected to bring anything more than buns to family dinners.