Last year, I wintersowed them in milk jugs around this time of year. Then when Spring came, it was just a matter of checking on them and, after they were about two inches tall, plunking them in the ground. It will be interesting to see what they do this year :)

bellarosa,I direct sowed mine last spring.Got my beds ready and just sprinkled away with poppy,larkspur.malva in that bed.I direct sowed an area of my cottage garden with Zinnia.Cosmos.marigolds,cleome,also balsam.I had beautiful results.I ws everything else-well,except for my beans,corn,peas,pototoes,squash and okra.I direct sow all of those and ws things like tomatoes,peppers,onions,cabbage.It just didn't make sense to me when they are so easy to grow this way.
moonphase

Hi Bellarosa,
Are you trying to grow annual or perennial (Oriental) poppies? I don't know anything about the annual kind (and was shocked to learn the blooms only last one day), but the Orientals are wonderful and very reliable once established. They also love your zone. (I've always bought plants, so I can't tell you about seeds with the Orientals.)
They want full sun and well-drained soil that's of average fertility. This is a cool-weather plant that will be stunning in your garden in June and then will become dormant. So plant them behind something that will hide the bare spot like Russian sage or perennial baby's breath. While the poppies are dormant (before they disappear) you can divide them and make MORE for the next year.

I have read in several places that annual poppies in general do NOT like to be transplanted and that direct sowing is recommended. So even though there are lots of WSers like Putzer who have had good success, I thought this was worth mentioning for you and anyone else who might be having trouble in case that's part of the problem.

Don't miss the "poppies!" on the Gallery side,
Posted by: todancewithwolves.

Or is that the place that fueled your poppy-growing frustrations? ;-)

Best of luck with whatever kind of poppies you end up with!
PattiOh

Don't feel bad. I've tried three years in a row with NO success. I also heard that they hate to be transplanted. So last year I winter sowed into some newspaper pots. Then planted out when they got bigger. They did grow to about 4 or 6" tall, but that was it. No blooms. Then they died off once warmer weather it.

I think I've officially given up. There are so many other flowers to try, I'm not going to get hung up over it.

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

Tracy

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

Thanks for your wealth of knowledge Annie! I direct sowed some Papaver Somniferum in Jan, and they're coming up nicely! I've got Black Peonies, Drama Queen, Lauren's Grape, Hen & Chicks, White Swansdown, and Pink, Purple & White Peonies scattered. It will be interesting to see what they turn out to be, mixed them all in together. I loved my Orientals so much, and saw these in gardens around here, that I HAD to try them! I bought the seeds from a lady on eBay that lived on Vashon Island really close to here. Mine are planted near my Tall Bearded Iris too. Hope I have some pretty poppies this year!

I wonder if they just don't like the humidity?

I can grow regular ol' poppies but I can't seem to grow the ornamentals. Like I've mentioned before, when they bloom in the morning the petals fall off at the end of the day. Too short a life.

I've tried growing perennial poppies from seed two years in a row. I tried exposing the seeds to cold by planting them in late winter/early spring, and I tried giving them light to germinate all with no luck. I bought the seeds from T&M - here's a picture of one of the varieties I tried - note it says easy! ha! All I got from four packets of seeds was two tiny little seedlings that didn't hardly grow but which I planted out finally at the end of the season. So I don't know if they will even come back. I had much better luck with an established plant I bought at White Flower Farm. But I left that at my old house, thinking that since it didn't like to be transplanted, I'd give it a long life and let the new owners enjoy it. Little did I know that they would kill everything!! :::sigh::: I should have taken a chance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Punch Poppies

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm trying to grow the annual poppies. I would love to be able to grow 'Lauren's Grape' - what a beauty! Unfortunately, like I said, I've had no luck growing these. One time though, I was able to grow one poppy! I direct sowed the seeds on the snow in April and here's a pic of it:


{{gwi:650091}}

I've tried it again and it didn't work. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I'm going to try and grow these beauties one last time. Wish me luck!

There are many reasons why you are having difficulty growing poppies. It could be the kind of soil you have and/or it may be due also to drainage problems. They tend to like sandy-loam soil, much as salvias. I have very sandy soil - actually, it's too sandy, so I have to continually ammend it with leaf mold, compost, manures and rotted hay.
And it is still too sandy. Bummer.

I water when we are having drought - which we have been having since 1993 :( Every year the drought gets worse and worse...Ho hum...so, I must water, not only to be able to grow flowers and veggies, but to keep all my shrubs and trees alive too, even things that normally don't require much water.

I don't "plant" my poppy seed, I scatter it over the soil like Mother Nature. I don't thin them either. They will thin themselves without any help from us. Don't cover the seeds with soil - no matter the type of poppy you grow. You can add a little compost in your growing areas every so often to give them a little boost. I add compost to the growing areas in the spring and late summer, just sprinkling it around the plants. You don't need to work it into the soil and damage the shallow roots of your flowers. The compost will sink into the soil and down to the roots as you water it or when it rains.

If you have clay soil you will definitely need to ammend your soil with lots of compost. Work it into the clay soil as much as you can, then add a top layer of compost. You should add compost three or four times during the growing season. That should take care of your soil problem if it is clay.

I come from the "old school" of gardeners who are firm believers in the virtues of Leaf Mold (nowadays called 'leaf mulch'), especially really good stuff from oak leaves. It is Nature's greatest soil builder and ammender. I love the smell of it. Leaf Mold and composted manure are all the fertilizers I ever use in my gardens.

~ Annie