Opium poppy "Azurit"

Opium poppy "Azurit" - Papaver somniferum.
A variety whose seeds do not spill out of the poppy box. Blue seeds. The seeds of this poppy are used in the baking industry, they are sprinkled with buns, cookies, and cakes are prepared. In addition, oil is extracted from them.

Agricultural technology.
Poppies do not require special care. Light-loving, cold-resistant and not demanding to the soil plant. Seeds are sown in open ground: in late April or early May. Seedlings appear on the 7-12th day, they are thinned out, leaving 25-20 cm between plants. Plant transplantation is poorly tolerated. Seeds can be sown several times, every two weeks, then flowering will continue all summer. If you remove wilted flowers, you can prolong flowering. It responds well to the application of mineral and organic fertilizers. This gives the leaves a rich dark green colour, the flowers are larger in size and the colour is bright.
Grows wild in the Mediterranean. The plant is annual and herbaceous. Stems slightly branched, erect, bluish-green with a wax coating, up to 80 cm tall. The lower leaves are narrow or broadly oblong; the stem is elliptical, upper-obovate, triangular, bluish-green and often curly. Flowers solitary on long peduncles, simple or double, 9-12 cm in diameter, white, pink, red, purple, lilac, lilac, sometimes with white or dark spots at the base of the petals. The flowers bloom early in the morning, the petals fall off in the evening. Blossoms in June-July 25-30 days. The fruit is a spherical capsule. In culture since 1597.
The seeds of this poppy are used in the baking industry, they are sprinkled with buns, cookies, and cakes are prepared. In addition, oil is extracted from them.
Opium and morphine are obtained from the seed pods of this poppy. Therefore, in many areas, it is now forbidden to grow this poppy.
As an ornamental plant, mainly forms of this species with large, double, very beautiful flowers with a diameter of 6 to 15 cm are used. There are forms with double flowers and dissected petals (var. laciniata) and with entire petals (var. paeoniflorum), whose flowers look like peonies. When sown in early spring in open ground, poppy blooms in 1.5-2 months. Seeds can be sown several times, every two weeks, then flowering will last all summer.
Usually, poppies bloom for a short time, but in those moments when the petals bloom, they become full owners of the garden: all eyes are drawn to them, it is they who warm and fill the garden with their double flowers, it is simply impossible to ignore this blooming carpet...

Eng.: Opium poppy.