Is it legal to grow breadseed (opium) poppies in the US?

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> Gardening

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amother

OP ↓

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 6:31 pm

I've seen conflicting information about this. Some people say it's legal, others say it's not. There are some ornamental breadseed varieties that I think would look really nice planted in drifts in the front lawn, but I don't want to grow it if it's not legal.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 9:00 pm

It's available from regular seed catalogs, but some sources say it's a legal "grey area". What does that mean?

avrahamama

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 9:24 pm

Unless you're growing pot. Would anyone know to identify any other illegal plant? And does your garden get checked for that kind of stuff?

lilies

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 9:32 pm

It may be legal up to a certain amount of square footage.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 12:38 am

lilies wrote:

It may be legal up to a certain amount of square footage.

If so, what would that be, and would it be measured based on total square footage of the garden, or would the spacing of the flowers be relevant?

Rappel ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 12:41 am

Anemones look very similar to poppies. Why not plant those instead?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 12:49 am

Rappel wrote:

Anemones look very similar to poppies. Why not plant those instead?

Poppies are easier to plant.

↑ Rappel

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 1:04 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Poppies are easier to plant.

I hear that. Though anemones are consequently pretty hardy.

What about the Adonis flower? I think it's called pheasants eye in English. That's seed based.

Call me paranoid, but I'm just thinking that anyone whom is ordering opium poppies is going to go on some kind of watchlist of they're not completely legal in your area. Why go into that if there are perfectly legal, almost indistinguishable options? Unless you actually want to harvest the poppies.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 1:32 am

The seeds are available from reputable seed catalogs. If it's not legal everywhere, why do they sell them?

Ruchel

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 5:44 am

But gun ok

gamanit ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:11 am

https://www.rareseeds.com/popp.....dseed

This looks like it would be great for hamentashen

↑ gamanit ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:13 am

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/0......html

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/0......html

↑ gamanit ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:16 am

some more links Smile

https://www.laphamsquarterly.o.....poppy

https://www.livescience.com/59......html

singleagain ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:18 am

Why not look up your local laws.. it might also be differing based on where you are.

↑ gamanit

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:30 am

singleagain wrote:

Why not look up your local laws.. it might also be differing based on where you are.

It's a federal law, not a state law that's under question. Most states don't enforce it and the feds generally don't go after normal gardens.

↑ singleagain

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:40 am

gamanit wrote:

It's a federal law, not a state law that's under question. Most states don't enforce it and the feds generally don't go after normal gardens.

Oh. I got confused. Thanks for clearing that up

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 10:54 am

It's not clear whether there is a legal distinction between different varieties of papaver somniferum.

amother

↑ OP

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 11:10 am

I found one source that says it's legal:
http://agsyst.wsu.edu/CulinaryPoppy.html

Quote:

All plant parts except the seeds are toxic and contain alkaloids used to manufacture opium and morphine. It is legal to grow Papaver somniferum in the United States for garden and seed production purposes; it is illegal to manufacture opium from the poppies.

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