I grow the large Red-Orange Orientals, but also love my annual Shirley Poppies. I just scatter the seed where I want them. They need the cool temps and moisture of Spring to get started. Then they bloom and bloom for me here in Oklahoma where it is hot and dry. I have blooms well into June, but I keep them deadheaded (removing the seedpods) as they make. They like full sun, moist soil (in Spring) but soil that drains and warms up in a sunny location. I have had them growing on a dry hillside that came up as volunteers. I even had them grow out at the family cemetery from flowers I took out there the Spring before! The blooms last two to three days, sometimes longer, but if it is windy, they don't last that long. They are rather delicate, but they make new blooms fast. Plant them thickly and don't thin them or space them. They do better and help support one another. In traditional English cottage gardens, the gardens are protected by high walls, usually rock walls that block or break the fierce northern winds in Spring and help warm up the garden soil, so the more delicate flowers are not as likely to be damaged. Poppies don't need to be fertilized and unless you are having a drought, they don't need to be hand watered once they have come up and become established. California Poppies are much the same. They need the cool & damp in spring to germinate and then they like the dry, rocky, sunny hillsides. The wind damages their petals but planted thickly they protect one another. They will continue to bloom for longer periods in your gardens if you will deadhead them. When temperatures begin to rise, let them go to seed and they will reseed themselves. I cut back my California Poppies and begin watering them again and they come back and re-bloom, even in the summer. I had California poppies all the way to frost last year and we were in a severe drought. Every year or three I have to reseed my poppy beds as birds and ants will carry off the seeds, but it is easy enough to do. I pull out all the spring weeds and then sprinkle in the seeds. Spray the with water to set them into the soil. If you do not get rain once a week, water them with a light spray to keep the soil moist until they germinate. And that's it! Don't cultivate around them. Their roots are too shallow. [Larkspurs are much the same] Last year I planted some Shirley poppies in a new area that was nice and sunny in the spring. All the poppies came up and I was so pleased, but within two weeks the trees leafed out and that site turned out to be shadey. The poor little poppies did not get the full sun they needed and consequently, did not bloom. They have to be in full sun to bloom. The ones that came up volunteers in front of the hot and dry greenhouse however, grew tall and bloomed continuously for weeks and weeks. Shirley poppies grow very splendidly along sunny garden walks (paths), as do California Poppies. They are only good until it gets hot, then go to seed and the plants die. You can collect the seeds or just let them re-seed themselves if they are where you want them to be next year. The Oriental Poppies enjoy a little more moisture and benefit from protection of strong winds. A little afternoon shade in very hot areas is helpful here in Oklahoma. I have mine growing amongst Bearded Irises & Garden Phlox. By the time the poppies are finished, the Irises and Phlox take off and fill in the area, so the dead poppy foliage is hidden and it gets composted back into the garden soil and consumed by all the flowers. Hope my ramblings help. ~ Annie

Interesting data. I don't have any "official" data, but I noticed my Burpee Jalapeno M were some of the first to pop up. They aren't the early ones per say, but they are usually the first variety that produces ripe fruit for me. Probably around 8 days if I had to guess to pop up(based on the 4-5 days it took for the 'maters). California Wonder, Big Dipper, and Chianti were about a day later. Anaheim were a little slower for some reason. Corno di Toro never germinated at all, as you know.

I have a 15 in mixer lift cabinet and 12 in cutting board pull out cabinet. The rest are all drawers. My only regret is I should have made one of the dish drawers 2 shallow ones instead of a deep one. It is glorious to have all my pots and pans in drawers! They are better organized, they do not attack me when pulling them out, and I don't have to get down on the floor to see them. Dishes are fantastic in drawers too, no more reaching! I can see all my gadgets in shallow drawers, my knives are out of sight, and I even just put my spices in a drawer. What on earth does he think you must put in cabinets? I was a bit nervous at first since I've only ever known cabinets, but I'm a complete convert now! It's just like having all the fance pull outs inside the cabinets, but you don't have to open the door first. I bet it's just new for him.

Lauriescreams - Thank you! I felt like I was just getting into my groove with my last garden when the decision was made to move. We did not take anything with us, our house closed a month before our new house was done being built and we stayed in a hotel for half of that with everything in storage. I am slowly getting a feel for what the plan will be with this one, my first inclination was to remove the sod on the back slope and plant on it but now I am leaning more towards trying to convince the husband that we need to terrace it with a retaining wall. I have had a few different companies out here to measure and give me quotes but so far none of the quotes have come in yet. So far the plan for the roses is to plant them in sort of an ombre' effect pattern, with the deepest colors(Young Lycidas, Darcy Brussel) in the middle going out to the lavenders(Plum Perfect, Angel Face, Heirloom, Love Song) and whites(Earth Angel, PJPII, Winchester Cathedral).