Re: BEST TIME FOR BROADCASTING PAPAVER SEED

Some of the keys that I've found for successful "wildflower" sowing are:
 
1.  Clear weeds ahead of time.  And take care of the weed seeds, too.
 
2.  Sow just after the ground has been soaked by some good rains.  Or irrigate WELL before sowing.
 
3.  Mulch lightly (not only helps maintain moisture, it also reduces bird marauding).
 
4.  Irrigate.  Supplement rains when necessary.
 
Joe

Sylvia Sykora <slsykora@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
For years I've delayed broadcasting California and other poppy seeds until January, waiting until our Northern California rains had well and truly arrived and the usual upheaval of the garden ? moving, planting bulbs, etc. - was at an end.  In all those years I must have broadcast thousands and thousands of seeds and never gotten a single, solitary germinated seedling.  For a long time I blamed our winter sparrows which strip fresh green growth from anything within reach.  I now wonder if I?m sowing the seed at the wrong time as Nigella seed, spilled from ripe seed capsules much earlier in the year germinate readily.    Can anyone suggest a better plan or a more successful way to achieve results?   It seems a shame not to be able to grow our state flower!

Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

Sylvia Sykora
Oakland, California
USDA Zone 9
Sunset Zone 15/16




Joseph L. Seals
Landscape Architect -- Horticultural Consultant
Pismo Beach, CA
Office/Home:  805-295-6039
Cell:  805-550-9272
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