i have an area I was planning on making a flower bed. right now it is just bermuda. I was wondering if I could just sow right over the grass and let it go wild. Its really not much different than out in pastures, right?

I would not sow seeds over bermuda. Bermuda is very aggressive and I can't imagine you will have many flowers survive.

THANK YOU (!) for the reminder. I bought some Red Corn Poppy seeds from WildSeed Farms while we were B&B'n around Austin last summer. They were put away when we got home and apparently forgotten.

Are the birds a big enough problem that I should scratch an inch or two on the snow surface so they are not laying right on top like a buffet? Do I just sprinkle and forget them or is there anything else I should do before they bloom? I've never tried poppies before and would appreciate input.

Thanks!
Lynn

I sowed Red Corn Poppies and 'Lauren's Grape' yesterday so the snow would blanket it. Hopefully, it will mix some with the soil and the birds won't find it. The Red Corn Poppy seed was very fine, almost dustlike, so I think they may have a hard time locating it.

I also sowed my White Cleome, 'Color Fountains' Cleome, Thyme along the sidewalk edges, and the leftover Asclepias seed from last year - hirtella, viridis, tuberosa, speciosa. Oh, and the red Penstemon I told you about, Sandy. I found out it is a native to Arizona, so maybe it will be more heat tolerant. We'll see. It is Penstemon eatonii in case you know anything about it. It's also referred to as Firecracker Penstemon.

I didn't really pick up any wildflower seeds this year or maybe I should say "yet". I may get some annual seeds before long.

Susan

Sow on top of the snow, Lynn. The birds may get some of the seeds, but probably not many. Susan was smart that she got her seeds out yesterday. I still have 24" of snow just beyond my patio to muddle through to get to the garden. So, I'll probably be out sowing this weekend.

Susan, I'll be anxious to see how the penstemon does.

We got 8 more inches of white stuff. But the sun is shining. Lovely, lovely sun!

OMG, Sandy! I know you guys got a bunch up there. I was really surprised we did not get what had been predicted, but that is often the case in OKC. We're kind of like right on the border of whether it's going to really smack us or not. I feel for you, I do.... At least you got out earlier this week so hopefully that alleviated some of the cabin fever!

I will let you know on the Penstemon. I know there are some that are more heat tolerant of others, I just haven't studied them much yet. Too many other things on the agenda, you know? I got these seeds for $1 so decided to give them a whirl.

I was looking again at Marilyn's list of plants from 2010 and noticed she had Croton capitatus. I'd really like to get one of those for the Goatweed Leafwings.

Here's hoping for a fast recovery from the snow. It's getting ready to warm up considerably in the next few days. Would that it stay and tarry for awhile.

Susan

I just sowed 1 1/2 lbs of red corn poppy seed in SW Oklahoma on the 13th. Any idea when I might expect the seeds to start geminating if the temps stay warm like it is now? I've been keeping the seed in my frige for the last month.

David,

My poppies have re-sown themselves for so long that it's been quite a few years since I sowed any new seed, but the self-sowing ones usually sprout here in southcentral OK anytime between late February and mid-April (in the colder springs when we don't have much heat, they'll be very late).

Depending on your soil temperature, poppies germinate about 3 to 4 weeks after the seed was sown. Generally, poppy seeds will germinate once your soil temperatures are in the 60-70 degree range. Since you had chilled your seed, I expect you'll see pretty fast germination if the warm weather continues. A pound and a half is an extreme amount of poppy seed, and if you have good germination, you will have a lot of beautiful flowers to enjoy.

Dawn

Visualizing a field of red poppies, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion asleep among the flowers..........ala Wizard of Oz.......

But, that's a different poppy. Corn poppies are in the genus rhoeas. Papaver rhoeas to be specific. While the poppies that appear in the movie are P. somniferum, the Opium Poppy, somniferum meaning "sleep bringer".

I planted several seeds of the Red Corn Poppy recently, too. Let's hope spring brings beautiful poppies in our gardens.

Susan

Okiedawn: When they say soil temps between 60-70, how is that determined? The seed is on the surface which I would guess fluctuates alot on sunny days and cold nights. Do they mean a daily average temp of 60� measured at a certain depth?

The 1 1/2 lbs of poppy seed sown last weekend covers 1/2 an acre. I have another 3 1/2 lbs to sow in different area next weekend. Sowing tips said 5 lbs covers up to 1.3 acres. I'm covering closer to 2.5 acres so I don't think it will be too overcrowded.

I have 10lbs of a dry area wildflower mix that I'm going to sow over a dry pond bottom. I'm daring the weather to rain enough to drown my flowers. I figure I win either way - a pond with water or a pond with flowers.

At the OK Mesonet stations, they have sensors at different depths in the soil that measure soil temp and report it back every 5 minutes. Then, the computers do their thing and compute an average temp for the current day, for a 2-day period and for a 3-day period.
In my garden, I just use an ordinary meat thermometer (not the same one I keep in the kitchen and use in there, lol) with a metal probe. You can spend more for a fancier soil thermometer that is essentially the same thing as the meat thermometer, but why do that?

For a soil surface temperature, I'd probably insert the temperature probe to a 1/4" to 1/2" depth in the morning and in the evening to track the soil temps and see what they're showing. Even though your seeds are surface sown, as soon as they sprout, the roots will be down in the soil a bit.

I hope this week's winds don't blow all your seeds into the next state. Every now and then a corn poppy pops up out of the ground 100' or even 100 yards from our house and I smile when I see it. The neigbors might not want those poppies, but I love seeing a tiny seed travel that far and find itself a place to grow.

Your wildflower fields are going to be gorgeous, and you'll win either way with the dry pond bottom. Personally I'm rooting for the wildflowers to win that one, but if you really need the rain, I hope you get it.

I've linked the OK Mesonet Soil Temperature Page for you. It updates constantly. If you page down a bit, you can see the 3-day average and when I need to plant "by the temperature", I test my soil with my thermometer at planting depth and use a 5-day average plus a look at the 10-day forecast to determine if it is time to plant.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: OK Mesonet Soil Temperature Maps

Saw my first few poppy seedlings on Saturday. Considering that I threw out a pound and a half of seeds, I can't call it a success yet.

Hoorah, David! Keep us posted on progress......

Susan

David,

Congratulations! You're now the proud papa of poppies.

Don't worry. They'll keep popping up out of the ground for quite a while, assuming wind didn't blow your seed into the next county. Mine reseed every year and they start popping up out of the ground as early as late January most years and sometimes new ones are still emerging in late March or early April. I continue to see new ones sprouting here almost daily and noticed a great many new ones last week.

Dawn

6 weeks after my first poppy seedlings appeared, I'm still looking at seedlings. A lot more have appeared, but there's been virtually no growth. I guess I'm lucky they're still alive at all since they've received no rain yet. The 50+ mph winds have stripped away the soil from some seedlings without strong enough roots. I've been trying to water them when I can but it takes 4-5 hours of watering to cover the area plus 3 hrs round trip driving time from my home. I have too much time invested in them to give up so I'll just keep watering until they grow and bloom or the summer heat kills them.

My seedlings are still fairly small too. They are growing roots right now. The top will take off pretty quickly when it is time. It does seem longer than usual, but OK is just weird :)

Where are you growing them?

Lisa

Y'all need some rain to fall on those poppies. Mine were small until an inch and a half of rain fell and then they got huge virtually overnight and started blooming. It is amazing what a difference even a small amount of rain makes. I hope you both get some rain soon. All of our wildflowers are looking so much better now. Before the rain fell, they all were so tiny and stunted. My bluebonnets bloomed at only 2 or 3" in height and the temps in the 90s made them go to seed almost immediately. I wish they could have held on a little longer and waited for the cooler temps and rain.

I'm growing them in NW Caddo County.

Well, that explains why they aren't growing.

Y'all haven't had much rain at all this year, right?

We've had about 4.5" and almost half of that has fallen in the last couple of weeks. It is funny how much you appreciate 1/2" of rain when you've been dry for so long.

I hope y'all get rain soon so your poppies can grow better and bloom and be spectacularly beautiful.

Mine are just sitting there, too. It is so amazing what rain water will do versus tap water, isn't it, Dawn.

We so need rain here in the City. It bypassed us again yesterday. Why, why, why?????

Susan

According to the Mesonet, we've had 160 consecutive days with less than .25 inch of rain. Looking on the bright side, that means it will probably be a good year for sandplums. Our thickets seem to produce better when under stress. I guess its a survival mechanism of some kind.

Susan,

That's true about rain water, but I also think it is the nitrogen released by lightning. My plants will green up like crazy after we have lightning, even if very little rain fell.

My poppies are about 300 feet from the house, with some a little closer. They only get rain water because I'm not dragging a hose or hauling buckets of water to water wildflowers. All my native plants live have to live on what nature gives them (or doesn't give them, as the case may be).

David, I knew y'all had been really, really dry there and that's why I went and found that map and linked it. I thought it would help us all understand what is going on with the rainfall across the state if we could look and see how little rain has actually fallen.

Regarding the sand plums, yes it is a survival mechanism in terms of survival of the species, and it applies to anything we grow to eat, including tomatoes and peppers. I get the best production from plants kept slightly hungry and slightly dry. Why? Because they want to produce lots of seeds in case they are about to die. Since those seeds are in the veggies we eat, it pays off for us!

I also think the flavor of most fruit and veggies are better in drier years than in years with more moisture or if grown with too much irrigation. Too much moisture waters down the flavor and also can negatively impact the texture.

I hope y'all get some good rain soon. The rainfall we've received recently has helped tremendously, but I have been watering some as well. With clay soil, I can't let it get too dry as it gets rock hard and sheds all water. I have to keep it moist enough that it will absorb some water.

Dawn

Looks like what I thought were poppy seedlings many weeks ago, were just weeds. My seed must be pretty smart. It decided to sit out this year and wait for better conditions in some future year. I only have 1 poppy plant that I've found. It's been so dry even the bermuda grass looks dead.

David,

Maybe they are waiting for next year. Even poppies have to have "some" moisture.

We had oodles of tiny seedlings a month ago and they are huge and in full bloom now, and all it took was a couple of inches of rainfall to make them zoom up.

We still have new seedlings popping up, but they may not have time to get very big and bloom before the heat gets them. Some years, I've had poppies stay in flower until almost July, but usually the heat burns them up long before then.

Y'all are really in dire straits already and if rain doesn't start falling, that bermuda grass might actually die. Usually, though, it just stays brown and dormant and you think it is dead, and then it greens up as soon as rain falls.

Our rainfall is only about 50% of normal, and much of that has fallen in the last month, but it feels really "wet" here now compared to what it was like 6 weeks ago.

Dawn

105� degrees forecast for today. Looking forward to July and August.

This weird weather sure makes you wonder what lies ahead, doesn't it?

My poppies are puny. And that should be in caps! The shirley poppies are teeny tiny. I have just had a few blooms. I do have 2 somniferum plants that grew normally and are now blooming. It's been a pitiful poppy year in my garden....(and I have access to water!)

Lisa