I tossed out about a 1/2 pound of seeds this year, okay maybe not that many, but a lot. I've found 6 seedlings. I'm hoping the rest will be along shortly with warmer weather.

Most of my poppies sprouted up in the past few days. Looking forward to some color around here!

I have never grown poppies before. I heard something about the foilage fading in the heat. The area i wanted them for is my front walkway. After they bloom do you pull them out , or cut them back? How long do they bloom for? Should i then have something else there ( i have the pink primrose filling in too)for the rest of summer color? I dont mean to hijack the thead, but didnt want to start a new one! :)

Lily, I would expect poppies to finish just as rudbeckia and shastas are starting. The heat does make the foliage look terrible, but if you want seeds, be sure to leave it until the pods split open. Plant some in an out of the way area for this if it matters.

Last year was my first to have any success with poppies. The tall, annual red ones looked very ratty after blooming and I ripped them out. The California type I cut way back, and they filled back in and bloomed again beautifully, all the way until the first frost.

I wouldn't cut any out until they either self seed or I collect the ripe seeds and do it myself as someone suggested.

I've got several kinds of poppies out there that I WS'ed. I know it works because it worked a couple years ago only I sowed them too thick.

One I've sowed is a perennial poppy, so I won't rip that out, might destroy the roots and thereby the plant, maybe cut it off as above instead.

I am winter sowing poppies for the first time this year. I have grown them from seed for the past eight years. The second year I grew them, I did not get any because the birds ate my newly sown seed! Now I place a old window screen over the newly sown area. And the poppies do great every year. good luck :)

I love poppies and tried many times until I finally got the knack of dealing with them up here in 2008. I winter sow perennials poppies and California poppies, which seem to transplant quite well. I don't grow Califronia Poppies anymore because they tend to flop, and I have many more beautiful ones. I direct sow annual poppies in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked. I try to sow as thinly as possible so I don't have to thin them out. Because they die back or look ratty after flowering, I always plant something in front of them, my favourite being zinnias which bloom later and hide them. I let the seed heads ripen and collect the seeds. The seed heads look great in a vase over the winter. I have used this method with both pots and in the garden, and it worked very well. This year, I have tried direct seeding in late fall. I want to see how this works in case I have to be overseas in spring. I'll see how it goes.

This is my first year starting poppies from seed. I have one that I bought from a nursery 2 years ago but it seems that it was more dandelions than perennial poppy. It's hard trying to kill off the dandelions and not harming the poppy plant. I think I'll try what Northerner does and WS the perennials and DS the annaul poppies. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm so excited. I found the ones I've been looking for.