Yeah, I got the Summer Sorbet poppies from T&M. They did not perform as well as some naturalized golden poppies in my beds. I planted them in mid-late April, and by July, I still didn't have many blooms. Most of the plants stayed too small all summer, and many died. I think growing them in Jiffy pellets wasn't that great. Maybe their roots had a hard time pushing through the fabric shell when I planted them. I had a few that accidentally got pulled up while weeding, and their roots didn't seem to have spread very far. I did get some scattered blooms from them after mid-July, but too many of them got overshadowed by bigger plants and didn't get enough sun. I'm not saying the plant isn't good, but I do think my conditions were not ideal. I gathered some seeds from them late in summer (the ones in the front yard weren't near any orange ones, so I think I'll get true ones from seed). Perhaps I'll sow the seeds very early in the spring, directly in the garden. As far as color, they weren't as amazing as the catalog photo, but they were pretty good. some of them had a more creamy pinkish color with darker petal tips, rather than the solid pink color. They did have a little ruffly texture like the catalog shows. I think the reason my naturalized orange ones are doing so well is that some of them sprout late in summer or early in the fall and the seedlings or small plants overwinter. They have a little jump on spring that way. I was surprised they could survive under intermittent snow, but poppies do seem to like cold (or at least cool) weather. Has anyone else had this experience with poppies? Is it possible to sow these fancy varieties in late summer and have them get a head start before winter? I don't know if Summer Sorbet is more tender than the species. It's too late now, but perhaps I could save some of the seed for late next summer.

I put my annual poppies out as soon as the whole container was filled with sprouts. They have survived temps down to the high 20s (possibly because there were emerging perennials around them to insulate them? and I kept them watered. I never even covered them). They are now getting their first set of true leaves. They are the healthiest looking seedlings I've transplanted other than some of the herbs (Fenugreek is beating everything in growth). I don't seem to have good luck planting perennial poppies out this way, so I'm going to wait for them to get at least their first set of true leaves before I transplant those. But the annual P's are healthy and hardy little buggers in my yard. They've been in the ground for almost a month now. Linda

Thanks Token. I heard poppies may resent transplanting so I thought I might try to transplant them when young and maybe they won't get mad at me and not grow ;) I guess if my back is up to it I will plant out my first seedlings this weekend. The poppies are getting big! I have some others that have bigger leaves too. This WS'ing really works! Karen

Marg, when I plant the sprouted seeds, I put them in cups with holes punched not only in the bottom but around the sides, too. They are kept in aluminum foil roasting pans full of water (or water + fertilizer) at all times and do not allow them to ever dry out. I transplanted the first seedlings to white hydroponic pots since that's the only white ones I could find on-line. The pots have quite a few holes on the sides, so I keep the pools full of water. I tried buying more pools, but it was too late in the season. So most of my seedlings are growing in pots, but they aren't doing nearly as well as those in the pools. Daylilies love water, and growing them in it is not a problem. I haven't experienced any root rot or damp-off. My dogs do sneak a drink out of the pools sometimes, but they know they'll get in trouble if they do. They don't like me getting mad at them. Mosquito Dunks and/or Dawn apparently didn't harm them, but I try to keep a close watch on them when I let them outside, as the pools are right by our patio. I may get a pool just for them and hopefully they'll learn that it's O.K. to drink in that one. Nancy