RE: [gardeners] Johnny Jump Up & Poppies

Terry King (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 4 Jul 2001 11:55:31 -0700

Poppy seeds need light to germinate.  Are you covering the seeds?

Terry
E. WA. zone 4

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gardeners@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-gardeners@globalgarden.com]On Behalf Of flylo@txcyber.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 11:20 AM
To: gardeners@globalgarden.com
Subject: [gardeners] Johnny Jump Up & Poppies


I planted Johnny J's a couple of years ago and now have them 
volunteering all over the beds. I love them. They're too tiny to do 
much good as an edible, but you can dunk in a simple syrup to 
candy and dry them for cake decorations. (Martha Stewart rearing 
her ambitious little head here <G>). Notice, this Martha says YOU 
can do that!!
You also can make a syrup out of honeysuckle flowers. And I do a 
few things with mesquite, simply because it's such an aggravating 
tree, just a little satisfying to be able to make a syrup or a flour out 
of it. 


Poppies: well, poppy seed anyhow. They grow like weeds for 
everyone else but I just can't get them to grow. I know you can't 
transplant them but what's the secret to getting them to grow and 
arrive well before the Spring weeds so I know what's what? 
So far I've tried plain breadseed poppy from Seeds Blum, Elba (a 
white seeded type) from Seeds of Change & from Shepherd's 
Garden Seeds, I'd have thought if any were viable those sources 
would be good. So, obviously it's me! Could I try sowing seed in the 
Fall so it's ready to come up at the appropriate time? Maybe I'm 
not getting it in early enough. (Feb/Mar in Cen Tex.)

One other floral hint. Our old farmstead has jonquils naturalizing all 
over the front yards. I've been digging them out (lifting and 
separating them) and planting around the edges of the garden. 
They're supposed to work as a gopher purge and we sure don't 
have any runs where the masses of bulbs are. These are OLD! 
Butter n Eggs, planted by my great greats back in 1870ish. 
They are probably fairly toxic to livestock, but nothing I've found 
eats them much anyhow. Not even the goats! 
Martha, (Texas)
Visit our Paso Fino Club:  www.TxPFHA.org
Visit our farm:www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/5505/index.html