I bought a box of poppyseed muffin mix and just for a lark, tossed half the poppyseeds into the garden. Now I have four tall, lovely poppies blooming. I would like to harvest the seeds but don't know where they are or how to prepare them.

Does anyone else know?

Catty

I have a lot of wild poppies in my garden that multiply on their own each year. When the flower petals fall off, the flower centre dries up and you can see the seeds inside. If you collect them and plant them up next year they should grow. Otherwise, let them fall off and they will germinate themselves.(hopefully)

Thank you, Jenny, that's exactly what I wanted to know. And so quickly, too!

Catty

What kind of climate do they like?

WOW catty! I can't believe that you got those results from a muffin mix! LOL! Tooooo funny!

I have poppies as well, and they are a perennial in our area. I think that they probably would be the same in your area of Washington, as you're pretty close to me.

They would probably grow in the desert if given water. Look at all the California poppies growing there! Poppies are pretty hardy, in my experience, and the little Iceland poppies keep longer inside than any flower I've ever seen.

Catty

Cool, I would have never thought that you could get poppies from throwing the seeds down on the ground like that. Thanks, Catty, will try that. I had some very beautiful orange ones that grew by my trees but they dug them up when they did the construction, so I'm going to try this.
Just a little info, did you know that opium came from the poppy? Here's a link about it:

The Opium Poppy

Thank you, Tree, and soaringhorse. Yes, I have heard of the theory that opium comes from poppies. I have stood by mine for hours, sniffed every one, all but ate them, but I have never been able to prove this theory. You need a lot of seeds to do the casting thing. I don't have the patience to bury each one of those tiny things, so I just throw them. That's what Mother Nature does!

All for flowers everywhere -

Catty