Which poppy? Annual or perennial...

Most annual types will germinate with no chill but do prefer a little cooler temps for germinating, around 60F.

I planted shirley poppy seeds (annual) last spring and I had flowers from summer into fall. I never "chilled" them at all.

Thanks for the info. They're Ferry-Morse brand, oriental coral reef and it says its perennial. So, I guess they need to be chilled. The package says to sow them several weeks before the last frost.

Papaver orientale, Sow at 68ºF, germinates in less than two weeks - do not cover fine seed.

The 'sow x number of weeks before last frost' likely refers to indoors, in order to have them large enough to plant out before weather becomes too warm - not outside before last frost to give them a chill. No chill needed. The orientals tend to retreat into summer dormancy, then return when cooler Fall rains arrive.

I appreciate the information. I've been trying to start everything indoors under lights. So, I'll give these a go. Now, the hard part is finding some space for them...

I sowed a flower bed with a packet of Oriental Mix of Reds seeds outside in the Fall of 2008, and nothing came up at all the following spring of 2009. Having another packet of the same seeds, later that summer (2009), I sowed some of the seeds into a flower pot outside and they grew like crazy and I let the seeds ripen and fall into the pot. But nothing has happened with them so far this spring. Maybe it's still too cold yet.

As an experiment on March 7th 2010, I took a few of the remaining leftover seeds (still had some from last years packet) and put them in 4 pellet pots and put them under a grow light in my kitchen. On March 14th, I had sprouts! As of today they are small, but doing fine inside. I'm hoping they will bet big enough (1 set of true leaves) to be able to harden them off and plant them outside in 4-6 weeks.

I had no trouble with the shirley poppies, but the Oriental poppies seem to be fussier about their growing condtions. I hope this helps :))