Poppies are another one of my favorite annual flowers. They have beautiful, delicate petals and long stems that swish back and forth in the wind. Bees love them in my garden! I have grown them from seeds early in February and by end of April there were blooms everywhere. Last year I was able to grow a few plants from seeds but this year I had only four plants that survived. The poppies I like to grow are somewhat unusual and have been difficult to grow here in Southern California. They are usually zoned for cooler weather than our zone 10 here.
Poppies are such stunners in the garden when they bloom. Poppies cope with the hot sun very well once they are established. Watering can be every 3 days, unless it is high heat in the 90s, I usually water every 2 days. I never fertilized them and they still bloom for the whole spring. I suppose if I fertilized them it may extend their blooms longer.
Once the flowers dry out, you can leave them on the plant so that the wind can help reseed it elsewhere or you can collect the seeds from the dead flowers and plant next year.
Below are some of last year’s poppies in my yard.
Verdant Garden 