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Re: Poppies

>>I have never had much luck with Poppies here, but I may be planting them
>>too deep and too late for our area.  CAN breadseed poppies be grown in S
>>Central Tx , Zone 8?  My healthfood store has a gallon jug of them for
>>cooking, if I bought some of those, how would I prepare them or the
>>ground for planting. Should I wait till it's really hard winter? No
>>snow, just freezing mud normally.
>>martha
>
>Yes, you can grow breadseed poppies in S. Central TX. I do, and I live
>about halfway between Houston and San Antonio, just south of I-10. The deal
>is, if we have an early summer, they may not be mature enough to set seed
>before they give up in the heat. But, they are definitely worth a try.
>Cindy in TX Z8/9

If you sow the seeds  _now_, the plants will have a better chance of
maturing, due to earlier germination, before it gets too hot for them next
summer.

Breadseed poppies (P. somiferum) are hardy  annuals.  They are really
tough, even here in Zone 6  CT, seedlings survive easily over the winter.

The easiest way to Fall sow them, is to scruff up the soil where you want
them to grow, broadcast the seed, and perhaps, water a bit.  The 'classic'
way to sow poppies up here in the North, is to sprinkle them on the snow
during the Winter, and wait 'til Spring.

The idea behind 'surface sowing' in the Fall and Winter is that poppies
need light and cool temps to germinate.  Both the scruffing of the soil and
the soil heaving caused by the melting snow gives the poppy seeds nooks and
crannies in the soil, which provide access to light, humidity and
protection from just being washed away.

Bill & Harvey
SKID Plants  Zone 6  CT  USA
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