The proper planting time for my zone at least, is mid to late fall for most poppies.

The seeds may also have well dried out and died being exposed all winter, vs stored in air tight container and possibly frozen (that's what I do to maintain viability).

Best to store them in a zip lock in the refrigerator so they don't dry out. I plant them every Jan. in milk jugs with the Winter Sowing method and they germinate every year.

Thanks! I will try the winter sowing method next time.

i default.. to planting them.. WHEN THE PLANT IS DROPPING THEM ...

not to say you cant take them and move them.. but your first mistake.. was just not planting them ...

dont know where you are in z5 ... but this winter.. with 30 days in a row below zero... may not have been the right temps... not to mention.. the garage thawed on warm sunny winter days ... etc.. its the wild temp swings that might be a problem ...

i would be all that surprised.. if they dont show up next spring ...

it would also matter.. what kind of poppy they were ... annual or perennial ...

vermin didnt help either

ken

Like lettuce, they will not germinate at temps over 70F....but they will likely remain dormant in/on your soil until autumn. Did you cover them when you sowed them? They won't germinate without light either. If you did cover them, you could gently rake the soil around - it might expose the seeds to light when they will hasten to grow - such is the reason for the historic symbol of poppies as a signifier of WW1 - as trenches were dug, the reservoir of seeds in the soil were exposed to sunlight and germinated and bloomed in a season - often covering entire fields in solid red blooms.

Good to know they could still come up. I assume they were perennials because my co-worker said he had a field of them. I did lightly sprinkle some soil over the seeds, just a dusting. I'll run a rake over the area and see what happens. Good info, thanks!

Having a field of them may simply mean they are reseeding annuals. I grow Papaver rhoeas, annuals, because they reseed so thoroughly and last so long, and then you just pull them. None of the fuss that you get with the perennial kind of ugly, dying foliage after the short bloom. But I certainly don't let all of them go to seed, that would be a solid field.

My guess, is that the seeds of many, may have died, in the garage, over winter, from repeatedly freezing & thawing, along with high humidity, & along the lines that Ken mentioned above, with mice. Had they been sown in autumn, they would have likely germinated, or if it were too late & too cold, been protected from the cover of snow & germinated as early as they could, in springtime.
Also, someone mentioned dormancy & that happens if sown, after the flowers of the same, are already in bloom, in your area, after is too warm, continuously...
Once June starts, some say it is already the start of summer weather & do not go according to the date of the solstice... & if your temps were just a bit too high enough, they may well haye actually germinated, but died to either heat exposure, or due to inadequate constant moisture at time of germination, if they were viable. But whatever didn't survive, through all that, the remainder may just might sprout when it's, cool enough in autumn.
Cool enough spring/fall temperatures & nearly constant adequate moisture after sowing, are probably the two most important factors, when you are certain, the seeds are good, other than fairly well draining soil & adequate sun exposure.

My poppies dint come up

My poppies dint come up

??? We need a lot more info - where are you, what kind of poppies, how did you plant them, when did you plant them...............did you read any of the preceeding comments?

Fairfield They don’t come up

I n the backy

Laura, if you are using the phone app, please switch to your laptop or notebook. Your responses are incomplete and hard to follow........and don't answer any of the questions I posed. If you don't provide us with good information, we can't provide you with good information :-)

They are planted in the yard i can’t give my number

No one is asking for any number. All we need is a general geographic location (this is a global forum, afterall), what kind of poppies you planted and when. If you are unable to answer these very basic questions, no one is going to be able to advise on your poppies.

Oriental poppies they don’t come up

I give up :-)) My psychic skills are not good enough to intuit where you are or what you did or didn't do and when to be able to provide any kind of assistance. Maybe someone else with some greater powers of deduction will offer help...........

my Poppies don’t come up they are pen

I live in zone five and my poppies did not come back. They were