Why???

[hooklink]

url=http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php?photo=114926][/url]
Can some body tell me why these Poppy's are in full bloom to day 14.10.09, as it seems very late for them.
Thanks for any suggestions
Stewart..................

[Hedera]

Perhaps it's the weather conditions. Has the field been ploughed up recently and the seeds think it's summer again? I have some plants which are flowering from this year's seeds already. Poppies germinate quickly.

[SheffieldLass]

There should be some very happy insects there ...

[JennyS]

They'll keep flowering until the frost gets them, but they do look good for October!

[nakedgardener]

Poppy seeds germinate when exposed to light. They can lie dormant in the soil for years, but as soon as they are brought to the surface (Even for less than a second) germination is induced.

Normally (or traditionally) if fields are ploughed/sown in Spring, which prompts the poppies.. they grow and flower in a couple of months, and flower in June... and set seed before harvest in August, scattering their seed on the soil for future years.

I assume this field was ploughed in mid-summer( for some strange reason) The nice wet summer would have got them off to a good start, a nice sunny September was ideal to get them flowering.

[earthdragon64]

I also saw some Poppies in flower yesterday, on quite bare, disturbed ground on the bank of a stream near Aviemore. That's after there were a couple of light frosts a week or so ago.

[hooklink]

Thanks guys for The info, just found it a bit strange that they were out this time of year, but now I think I understand why...
Stewart...............

[treecreeper]

Didn't poppies come up at unusual times in the trenches in World War One?

[nakedgardener]

Originally Posted by treecreeper

Didn't poppies come up at unusual times in the trenches in World War One?

Yep... for similar reasons... anything that disturbs the soil can get them started.. a bomb has the same effect as a plough.

Poppies probably evolved to take advantage of the disturbed soil by wild pigs snuffling the ground, but the plough was so much more effective as a soil turner.