Y’know . . . I have no business “gardening” in the middle of February in Michigan . . . when it’s still below freezing most days and the snow is still deep on the ground (with more coming, I’m sure).
But. . .
I get itchy.
And this weekend offered me a perfect opportunity to try something I’ve always wanted to try . . . sowing poppy seeds on the snow!
Poppies are challenging to grow from seed because the conditions have to be Just Right. They’re a bit fussy, mostly because they need cold stratification to germinate. One way, though, to plant poppy seeds . . . is to sow the seeds right on top of the snow. Because instant cold stratification! As the snow melts (and then as more snow falls), the poppy seeds get that cold start they need . . . and by spring, the melting snow helps the seeds germinate in the garden soil, and . . . voilà! Poppies bloom in your garden. Like magic!
All this is alleged, of course. I’ve never tried it myself. So this is my (current) Great Garden Experiment . . . and we’ll have to see what happens.
Stay tuned . . . I may end up with poppies blooming in really odd places in my gardens. Or I might not.
Time will tell!
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Also — a special thank you to all of you who popped into Happy Hour over the weekend. If you haven’t had a chance to read all the shared joys and pieces-of-happy, go on in and read the comments. There are some good things happening in our corner of the world!
Ooh, I hope snow sowing works! John “frost sows” clover seed for the deer and it always sounds a bit crazy to me.
I have my fingers crossed for you! I have tried numerous times to seed poppies, but have never been successful! (Likely because my corner of PA does not usually get cold enough…) Poppies are absolutely my favorite flower… they are so fleeting, but when they are in bloom there is nothing that can compare to them!
This is just so cool! I’ve never heard of sowing seeds on snow. Fingers crossed for you that it works!
The minute I hear “poppies” I think Wizard of Oz which always made them seem magical to me. I keep wanting to knit the poppy pattern that I have squirreled away somewhere on the Internet but never am quite in the mood. Maybe one day:).
Won’t the birds and other critters eat the seeds? We’ve had deer (9 at one point) and turkeys hanging around our bird feeder in the past week. Food is scarce for those foragers right now.
Whatever happens, good luck with the poppies.
What a great experiment, Kym. Very easy, satisfies a curiosity, and if it works there will be beautiful flowers. Please let us know in due time how it goes.
I can’t wait to hear how this works.
Hello from Wisconsin! A few years ago I winter sowed a couple of milk jugs of poppy seeds. They were a complete success. Since then, I just let the poppy seed heads explode at the end of the season and scatter seeds naturally. I’ve got poppies growing all through my gardens now. Last year my flagstone patio had gray and pink poppies growing in all the cracks. I didn’t have the heart to pull them out. I just waded through them to my favorite knitting spot. I hope you have as much success!
I can’t wait to see how this turns out for you! (Also, I wonder if there are other things you can plant this way?)
I know I already commented on Friday’s post, but I have another good thing to share to start the week: I saw my first snowdrops this morning!
I did that when I lived in New York State and it worked, I had lovely poppies in the spring! I hope it works for you!
I have never heard of this process for growing poppies and have had limited results with poppies even as plants. I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out in your garden and hope it’s wildly successful!
I hope this works for you! If we get any snow I might try to sow them in our community flower garden!
I have never heard of snow sowing but it makes perfect sense. May your snow sowing of poppies be successful. Poppies are gorgeous and to have those frowsy blooms scattered around your yard would be wonderful.