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Landscape Design Annuals

zone 7 annual Red Shirley poppies can I sow them in the fall?

2 years ago

I'm starting a wildflower meadow and planned on sowing perennials this fall with annual red poppies so I have something the first year, but everything I read is saying to sow poppies in Spring, kind of hard if I already have perennials sown from Fall. Can I sow poppies in Fall or ? Thank!

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Yes, you can sow the seed now, especially in zone 7. And you can do the same with any annual poppy.

Sowing the seeds in fall mimics the same germination and growing conditions as any self-sown seeds would encounter from an existing stand of poppies.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years ago
agree.. mimic what the plant does and you rarely fail ...

but you said you want to do this .. with an annual ... so you have bloom the first year ... of course you will.. whether you do it now or in spring.. as that is the definition of an annual ... it blooms and dies all in one year ...

what you might lose over winter is seed to vermin like birds or mice.. etc ... which might eat them all before spring .. since you dont have snow cover to hide them all ...

frankly ... do what i would have done before the web.. experiment ... plant half you area now.. with half your seed .... and half in spring.. and report back next fall.. as to how it all worked out ...

one downside to most fall planting ... is that annual seed is usually not available for sale .. or has been sitting in the store all season long ... and again.. of course.. that was pre WWW when everything is available whenever you want it ....

ken
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Christopher CNC
2 years ago
You can sow annual poppy seeds in the fall. I had significantly better germination and better plants from a spring sowing.

If there is any truth to the sow poppy seed in spring axiom, it would be because they germinate best on top of preferably disturbed(prepared) soil with little competition. In my zone 6a with plenty of freeze thaw over the winter, the seed can be pulled down deeper into the soil where it won't germinate. That would be less a problem in zone 7.

If you sowed your perennial wildflower seed in a prepared soil, there is no harm in sowing the poppy seed in the very early spring - for me March before the last snow. You don't need to rake them in or disturb your other seedling. Wash them in. The poppy seeds need to be on top.

I have only been successful with annual poppies in the roadside vegetable garden - disturbed soil. The vegetable garden is rather feral and all kinds of things self sow. I have feral parsnips. The poppies don't come back. If I want some I am better off sowing seed in the very early spring.
nansaidh
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you all for your responses, I think I'm going to try sprinkling the poppies in the Spring over the already Fall sown perennials, I hope it works! I have other areas where I'll only be planting annuals for Spring planting:)

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