Papaver somniferum is an easy annual to grow. It will reseed itself in the garden if some of the pods are left on the plant to dry. Once the heads turn brown, ...

The opium poppies are coming into flower in our High Garden nursery stock bed, the main season of which is mid- to late-summer. These are plants which sowed themselves last year, and germinated ...

A. Papaver somniferum is the species of poppy used to manufacture opium. While the blossoms are beautiful and the plant often will self-seed in well-drained alkaline soil, it is illegal to grow ...

Usually the lowly Papaver rhoeas (the red poppy) doesn’t make the news as much as its narcotic cousin Papaver somniferum (opium poppy), but once a year — and especially this year, the centennial ...

Opium, morphine, heroin, codeine and synthetic drugs like hydrocodone have one big thing in common: they are all derived from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, a pretty flower cultivated in dry ...