Re: Poppies ?

The somniferums(?) have the most beautiful blooms, IMO.

I grew some this summer. My SO nicked a pod, to see if it would "bleed," like he saw in National Geographic. It did. We both shrugged and said, "Hey, cool!" Since neither one of us is interested in opiates, we just enjoyed the blooms all summer. *shrug*

The San Francisco police pulled up my grandmother's poppies in the '60's. They told her it was illegal to grow them. Grandma was pissed. She had no idea the plants were illegal, but they were gorgeous and she loved them.

For Andrea: if you can, buy some poppy seeds now and spread them where you want the plants to grow. Let them overwinter. They'll come up when the soil warms up enough for the seed to sprout.

Jan

Poppies can be planted now until the end of October in zone 6, or again in late February thru the end of March on disturbed (roughed up) soil. They can be sown on top of melting snow in late winter and often sprout very well. Poppies sown after May usually do poorly because they need to make a strong root system before the soil and air get too warm. Many kinds seem to need some cold weather or frost to break open the seed coat and help them to sprout. Shirley Poppies are the most delicate of the annual varieties. Their seeds are not expensive, and if sown at the right time, most will germinate. Mix them with sand before sowing because the seeds are so tiny you might sow