it took me years to figure this out ... pre WWW and all .... you might be embarrassed when i say it ... but sow the seed when the PLANT IS SOWING THEM ... and you will NEVER fail ... dont you think??? we fail.. or struggle.. when we buy the pack of seed in spring.. which is about 6 months AFTER when the plant is doing it ... soooo.. if the plant doesnt think it needs 3 weeks of cold.. why would you ... and if the plant is genetically predisposed to creating a seed that will lay there on the soil.. until it gets its cold treatment.. why would it be better to put them in an envelope ... and store them for later???? IMHO ... the biggest problem with the WWW is TOO MUCH INFO... lol ... be the plant.. ooohhhmmmmm .... good luck ken ps: the only way to fail ... would be to not mark the spot.. so you dont cull them all out as weeds in fall ... or next spring ...been there.. done that .. lol ... MORE THAN ONCE ... EDIT: the reason this works for THIS plant.. is that it is NOT an annual ... its a biennial.. and will over winter ... with real annuals... the seed or young plants.. may or may not winter over ... those are the seed that need to be stored if they can not handle your winter .... wherever you may be .... EDIT: .. i learned the most thru experimenting... and i presume you will have fistfuls of seed ... so direct sow some.. [like the plant isnt doing it right now anyway] ... save some for fall planting.. and try some next spring or winter sowing ... a great.. EASY plant to experiment with ... This post was edited by ken_adrian on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 8:16

Thanks for the advice, whynotmi. I didn't want to waste my packages of Red French poppy seeds, so i went to the Bulk Barn food outlet and bought 1/4 oz of culinary(seasoning) poppy seeds to see if they would sprout. And they certainly are! I don't know what type of poppies will come up or their colors, but I love those kind of garden surprises. At least I'll know if June is not too late to plant poppies and get flowers here in Southern Ontario.

Yes you can! Really! You don't need snow and ice or freezing temperatures to Winter Sow, you just need the season that's called Winter, and where you are Winter isn't a season that's long or bitterly cold, it's milder, and gentler....and you don't have to shovel out from a snowstorm like us Northerners! Lucky you! "What seeds can I sow?" You can sow almost any annual, and most certainly all biennials and perennials that are okay to grow in your warmer zone. Look for "sub-tropicals" when you search for seeds, you can even try a few tropical seeds too....but if you don't have confidence in sowing tropical seeds then hold back some seeds to start inside, compare the germination, and learn from your efforts. As your Winter is so very short I would suggest placing the seed flats outdoors where they'll get direct light only in the morning or afternoon, brilliant overhead sunlight at midday might be way too intense causing the air inside the flats to super-heat which could "cook" the seeds....bummer. For some info on a sowing technique you can try please read the Winter Sowing FAQ "Is there Spring and Summer Sowing?". Thanks, Trudi

As long as your older seeds have been kept away from severe fluctuations of temperature and/or stored away from direct sunlight they'll be fine. Many seeds can last for several, several years. What you can do is that when you post your list of seeds put a little note into your post to let the traders know how well the seeds have been cared for by being stored well, and put the collection year next to the plant name. The other traders will know from the very beginning that they're trading for older seeds. That will be good way to post your seeds.