Van Bourgondien

I have a red poppy that has been in our family for many years (since the early 1900's). I have never seen any like it. It is very similar to your Oriental Poppy Brilliant and has the black center with the black fingers going up the inside of the poppy. Mine also has a very small white line in the black fingers. It gets the size of my hand. I have not been very successful getting this poppy to multiply in plants? I have planted seeds in fall, spring. I have planted the entire pod in the fall and spring. No success. What do you suggest?

I've always grown poppies from seeds, but it's usually the Iceland types, not the Oriental types which I think are not as great for seed propagation. From my research and experience with other perennials I think that the root cuttings propagation technique will be the most effective and least hazardous to your existing plant. Rather than digging up and dividing the entire plant (which is potentially disasterous if the plant doesn't survive the divide), you just clip a few side roots without digging up the plant.
This is the best article I found on root propagation online:
From hortmag.com:
Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) produce thick taproots that do not like being disturbed. However, you can propagate your poppies by waiting until they are fully dormant in midsummer -- ANOTHER ARTICLE STATED SEPTEMBER, BUT THAT WOULD BE RELATIVE TO THE REGION YOU LIVE IN. (At this point the foliage will have died, so you will need to mark the location of the crowns beforehand.) Rake away the soil from the crown to expose a few pencil-thick side roots. Cut these off cleanly with a knife and replace the soil. Do not remove more than a few roots from each crown.
Cut each root into two- to three-inch lengths and plant them horizontally in a flat containing moist sand or peat moss. Cover the flat with a layer of clear plastic to keep them moist and put the flat in a cool, shaded location. Callus tissue will form on the cut ends and roots and shoots will develop from adventitious buds along the roots. Several weeks after sprouting, transplant the young plants to a protected location.
Here is a link to a great article with general instructions on root cuttings:
http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/grow-more-plants-with-root-cuttings.aspx
This is a article on seed propagation, although the author notes that O. Poppies rarely come true from seed. From garden-tips-perennials.com:
I have started more of these plants in my nursery life than I want to admit to and if you follow a few easy rules, you’ll have lots of success with this plant. To begin with, if you are starting them indoors plan on starting them six to eight weeks before the last frost. Let me tell you that you can plant them directly in the garden just as easily. I firm the soil with the back of a shovel or hoe to make a smooth seedbed and then sprinkle the seed over this area. The real trick is not to cover the seed too much. The barest minimum covering you can achieve is correct; all you want to do is have enough soil around the seed to keep it moist. You do not need to exclude light from the seed as poppy seed benefits from light in its germination process. Regularly water the seed area with a fine mist nozzle and within two weeks you should see small leaves starting to germinate.