I wintersow poppies every year and plant them out HOS without any adverse effects:-) They will do fine since they will be small.

Good Luck! Rhonda

Cool, thanks! I was afraid I was going to have to plant the entire pot, then end up with crazy groupings of poppies. You know, all bunched up together. This gives me hope!

Rhonda must have more nimble fingers than me, LOL. I've lost poppy sprouts after transplanting on more than one occasion, but the time I finally succeeded, was when I planted them out very young, HOS style, well before our last frost. It's seems, for me anyway, that the larger I let them get in their container, the less chance of them surviving being transplanted.

The good news is that last year I didn't even have to plant them. The California poppies reseeded like crazy. I was pulling up seedlings 10' feet from where they were originally growing. Most of them I just left alone, because I really love them, but some sprouted inside other plants' crowns. Those had to go : )

Bonnie

I do the same as Rhonda and Bonnie. I plant them out quite small. Have better results than with direct sowing. Sometimes I get a few self sown but not often or enough.

I must go to bed. Thought the topic said WS Puppies.

Lol! I have yet to learn the art of WS Puppies, but I think that's on another forum...

Thanks for the tip. I will plant them out early, and hope they survive if we get a cold snap. Doubtful, but stranger things have happened out here!

beware the reseeding!
After 4 years of growing Cal poppies, last year I was pulling them up like weeds. Yes, I love them, but too much of a good thing.
They really take over. I'm a litle afraid to see how many I'll have this year!

Hmm.. Good to know. I haven't started any california poppies, just orientals and one package that's called "Double Choice Mix", whatever that is..*shrug*

Do you think that if I would use peat pots it would help with transplanting? I tried Cal poppies last year without much success, now I understand why. This year, I bought a bunch of seeds (Pizzicato, double cream peony and flemish antique peony) and I'd like to see some flowers.

Well, that was my fallback plan if HOS didn't work. I placed a peat pot full in a 1L bottle and put in the usual drainage holes, etc. I don't see why it wouldn't work, but maybe someone with more experience can answer that question. I'm way too new at this! :)

I am going to try transplanting HOS style tho, based on the answers I got here. The Orientals have just sprouted, and haven't gotten their true leaves yet, so I guess now is the time to plant em out. I did direct sow a few just in case, however, since I can get away with it over here. Guess I will have to let you all know how it went!

Annual poppies are so easy to direct sow, I scattered the seed for a red frilly poppy in early March last year, and they sprouted so abundantly that I had to thin them out twice. But then they provided colorful blooms before most of the perennials were blooming. If you decide to WS them, then they should be planted out carefully when they're very small (at the cotyledon stage).

The California poppies are the same for me, after the first year of being sown they reseed so thickly that they too need to be thinned out. No need to bother sowing again because they sow themselves!

Self sown poppy seedlings overwinter just fine here in my zone 6. They like it cold. Below zero temps don't kill the seedlings.

Karen

steff, if you do put them out and a frost approaches before you're comfortable leaving them out, you could cover them cloche style with bottle tops

Actually, poppies are very frost tolerant and they shouldn't require cloches. Mine sprouted in early April, and I remember worrying about them and going out to check one cold morning - hardy little sprouts covered in frost, that didn't miss a beat. Even have a picture around here somewhere. The California poppies are some of the last annuals to succumb to frost in the fall.

Ot: Terrene, I knew you would know that cotyledon word. I did look it up the other day but I am sure it will escape my mind before to long. ;)

Again, let me say
Poppy seedlings volunteer in my yard in fall and winter over in garden beds without damage. We're talking lows even below zero.

Poppies like the cold. Calif. poppies tolerate our summers but all others fried as soon as hot weather came.

Karen

"If you decide to WS them, then they should be planted out carefully when they're very small (at the cotyledon stage)."

That means before they even have real leaves, right? How long do you think the window of opportunity will be for transplanting the WS poppies after the seeds sprout?

--Carrie

The cotyledon leaves are also called seed leaves. They are the first little leaves that come out of the seed, they're part of the embryo inside the seed. With poppies, they are thin little things. I would plant them out at that stage, before they get their true leaves, being careful not to disturb the roots.

This is one plant that is a bit fussy to WS, but so easy to direct sow, it's worth trying both.

I waited until they had a few true leaves. Poppies are teeny tiny when they first sprout, I couldn't handle them this small
{{gwi:260470}}

I planted them out by HOS when they had a couple of true leaves. No problem
{{gwi:260471}}

{{gwi:353468}}

Karen

Wow, Karen. Those are beautiful! Thanks for the pics.

I went ahead and planted mine out HOS style while they had their "seed-leaves". I tried to be careful, but I was pretty fumbly as this was my very first HOS EVER! We shall see how they fare. :)

I direct sowed a bunch as well, since the consensus seems to be that they handle cold well. My area has had nothing but mild rainy weather lately, so I am not at all worried that they will survive anything a NW climate can throw at them.

I'm new to WS......what is HOS style.

HOS = Hunk of seedling

That should of been plural!!

Hunk of seedlings