Open-pollinated. Annual. An unusual double-purpose poppy sporting enormous seed heads up to 1½" wide and 2" high in good years, somewhat smaller in drought. All the heads are now unvented so that the seed is not broadcast. From Chrenovec in central Slovakia, where families used to grow both the black Breadseed poppy and white-seeded Elka, and collect 50 kilograms of each for a year’s cooking. When walnuts became widely available in stores, Elka almost completely disappeared. Lacks the distinctive flavor of the Breadseed variety but sweeter and nuttier, with none of the bitterness, and over 50% more oil content, making perhaps the best edible oil in central Europe. Staffer Emily Skrobis tested three different batches of poppyseed filling in making hamantaschen and loved Elka the best. Plants grow 4' with white-lavender single blossoms, like calcium-rich soil, don’t transplant well. For best results thin to at least 5–6" apart. Some folks tie a group of plants together for support against wind breakage. Isolate from other poppies by at least 250' if you wish to save seed. 1995 Fedco introduction. ①
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