carbuff said:

Please bear with me folks, this is my 1st year in a new(er) house with a 1/2
acre lot. There are a lot of perennials already established, but much room
for more. So, I bought two oriental poppies, planted them 6 feet apart in
a south-facing well-drained bed. They were in 6-inch pots, and were about
6 inches in height when bought. They've now doubled in size, but only one
has developed a flower bud, which unfortunately drooped & rotted before
blooming. It was the size of a large red grape. I should mention that
we've had an extraodinary amount of rain lately. However, on dry days, the
leaves looked wilted, so I was watering on a daily basis.
So, is it too much water? Do they need to establish for a year or so
before blooming?

One year after planting, my poppy had one flower that matured and
a couple of buds that didn't. Two years, maybe a dozen. Three years,
several dozen.

Be patient.

One thing I'm pretty certain of is that Oriental poppies appreciate excellent
drainage. My grandma had them in a sort of rock garden on a slope.
Mine are planted in very sandy soil.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)