Polly the Parrot writes:
Bought some poppies in Bunnings.

Planted facing westerly sun, carp fertiliser (smelly brown stuff mixed
with water).

Trouble is, either the flowers are very small, or they only half open,
or the stems snap, and the stems are very short.

I believe they need full *morning* sun.

My Mum has been growing poppies for decades. The last two years
have been disappointing--the "Iceland Poppy" seedlings sold to
her by her local nursery turned out as you describe. They grew
into nothing like Iceland poppies. The plants were tiny, stunted,
half of them died, and the few buds that did open were all tiny
and all orange-coloured!

Any ideas to improve the situation?

Perhaps buy seeds and raise your own seedlings. Plant late autumn.
They don't get frosted.

If you can get some seeds of the Flanders Poppy, those plants grow
vigorously and can be divided so you'll have them ever after. Just
be aware the Flanders Poppy flowers are uniformly blood-red.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)