Re: [gardeners] Johnny Jump Up & Poppies
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 04 Jul 2001 15:59:28 -0500
Martha, we plant poppy seeds in late August, early September and they sprout in
December/January and then are done by May. They also self-seed pretty good. I'm
not exactly sure where you live in Tejas but it works for us here in zone 9b SW
Louisiana. Try that and you should get some poppies. No mistaking the shape and
color of their leaves either.
George
flylo@txcyber.com wrote:
>
> 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