Grow the lovely lilac blue Hungarian Breadseed Poppy in your own garden

Living under communism was no picnic, but ending communism really was a picnic. The Pan-European Picnic or Páneurópai piknik, as it was called in Hungarian, was held on the Austrian-Hungarian border Aug. 19, 1989.

Both countries opened their borders for three hours so Austrians and Hungarians could picnic and more than 600 East Germans seized the opportunity to flee west.

As with any good picnic they probably served poppy seed cakes, made from the lovely lilac blue Hungarian Breadseed Poppy (Papaver somniferum.)

In the late September garden this rare heirloom, with its three- to four-inch silky purple-blue flowers, begins to form large seed pods. These tiny seeds are used in everything from cakes and muffins to salad dressings. These are also the same family of poppies that are used to make opium. For centuries poppies have been used in pain medications.

And yes, you may test positive for drug use after eating any poppy seeds, but most poppy seed is safe to eat because there are only tiny amounts of the opiates in the seed.

But can you grow these beauties legally in your garden? Well, like the Hungarian border guards who chose to look the other way when hundreds of people walked to freedom, the law is yes and no. It’s all about intent. A garden bed or even a small field is probably safe unless you are slitting the seed heads and collecting the sap. 

Even the poppy seed you buy in the grocery store is likely the same “Papaver somniferum” which has slate-colored seed. You can plant the seed from the grocery store and if the seeds are reasonably fresh they will likely grow. Or you can order Hungarian Blue Breadseed Poppy seeds from companies such as Seeds of Change (seedsofchange.com), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com) and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (540-894-9480 or by mail at P.O. Box 460, Mineral, VA 23117.)

Most gardeners plant them in early spring, but you can sow them in late fall, though usually spring-planted poppies do best. The seeds can take some cold, so plant them even before your last frost in very early spring.

Sow Hungarian Blue Breadseed poppies in full sun on well-worked soil. Direct seed them in the garden because they don’t transplant well. Some people mix the tiny seed with some sand to make it easier to scatter, or even put the seeds in a saltshaker and scatter them that way.

Once you scatter the seed on the soil surface, simply press the seed down into the soil, but don’t cover it up. Water gently so you don’t wash the seeds away. 

They will take between 10 days and a month to germinate into blue green sprouts.   The plants will grow about three feet tall and bloom in just 70 days. The delicate flowers only last from three to five days. 

To use them as cut flowers, cut the flowers in early morning and singe the cut end of the stem with a match to seal off the flow of sap. If you are collecting the poppy seeds to use in baking, cut the seed stalks before they are completely dry. Keep them upside down in a paper bag and let the seed heads dry for a few weeks. You can then shake the seeds loose. Or you can use the seed pods as their own dispenser and shake out like salt from a saltshaker when you need poppy seeds. 

Now you can use your own homegrown Hungarian Blue Breadseed Poppy seeds for winter baked goods and even grind the seeds and mix with perhaps some orange and honey for fillings for cookies. Be sure to save some seeds for next year’s planting and to share with friends, over the holidays or on picnics, on either side of the Iron Curtain.

Paul Barbano writes about gardening from his home in Rehoboth Beach. Contact him by writing to P.O. Box 213, Lewes, DE 19958.