In my area, there is a local greenhouse that sells(individual) 'Champagne Bubbles' (F1 Hybrid), in 6" wide, short (half?)pots, while in full bloom. But here in VA. that is during late April, early May & this variety may not be as winter hardy in your zone, as an F2 variety, as explained by Stokes seeds catalog (online) Of course, you'd have to wrap the pots, something like florists do, for use on a table. Cut individually, very low near the base, may last up to three days at most. Never did sear them... As for alpine poppies, those may require too deep of a pot, or massive sowing about now, outdoors & may last just a couple days at most, if temperatures are cool. Blooms are quite small & stems very short! I have seen a bouquet of Shirley poppies that my uncle bought for my aunt, in Southern California from a roadside stand, that last about 5 days, for her birthday in June. But, those were cut in 'bunches', much lower down the stalk & not an individual flower stem. They were numerous blooms, of various colors, accomplished by cutting each bunch, much lower down the stalk, to make a more lasting bouquet.. I have no idea with even attempting something anything like this, using the oriental poppy, unless there is a huge patch located at some abandoned house or yard, somewhere up in Michigan. I would suggest consulting a florist, about what becomes available at that time of year, or make plans to order in advance. Besides, I have no idea what is in bloom locally that far north, on that given date, Peonies, or Lilacs, or Lily of the Valley. Possibly, you may just end up keeping it as uncomplicated as possible & simply resorting to buying roses, or carnations ?

Hi Dave, I'm no longe n Michigan (Florida is home now) but I used heat lamps and additional light when the weather started getting cooler. It might be worth a try. Good luck, Ruthie

Sure glad that you got one to bloom. We have all been in your place and hope that something will bloom. Just keep trying. I have ones that bloom each year but others take their time and others take years. Barb

Here are some examples of what location and heat can do to the same cultivars: Sherbert Town: Grown in South Florida and actually this is who I got my Sherbert town from so they are from the same source. Beautiful pic by Lopaka. Lopaka's Sherbert town My Sherbert town which came from Lopaka but blooming in cold coastal So Cal: Here is another one I bought from Lopaka (can't find my pic of it blooming last year) Lopakas gorgeous pic of Unicorn: My Unicorn did not perform like Lopaks, very washed out. Jungle Jacks Jackie, and Taj Mahal have not perfored well either in the cooler temps. Bill, I bought my Rim Fire in 2002 from this guy in FLorida via Evilbay, bidding was furious as I ended up paying 300.00 for the rooted plant. I actually won a 2nd rooted plant later from the same seller, I gave one as a gift to Suki in Hawaii as she said it looked different and was gorgeous, hers bloomed like his. According to the pics (the sellers pics where gorgeous but again it was FL with heat and humidity.) his Rim Fire looked very different than JL's Rim Fire, more like Danais Delight, Someone on MPG from Texas posted pics of her Rim Fire blooming couple years ago and it looked like the pics of my sellers Rim Fire. Ill try to look for the sellers pics. I think it may be different as the color is stronger than JL's Rim Fire (JL's seems more pinkish on rim, I use to have JL's also but cleared it out as I preferred mine.) If you would like a cutting Bill let me know at my Rim Fire is pretty big now.