Golden poppy seeds best to be sowed in fall or winter

Q

I love California golden poppies, but I have no luck in growing them. A friend suggested that I was planting them at the wrong time of year (spring). When is the best time and do you have any advice for growing them?

— M.J., Hayward

A

California poppies are my favorite flower. They are easy to grow, and they are self-seeding, meaning if you get a nice stand of them one year, with luck you’ll have more the next without having to do anything.

You can sow poppy seeds, as well as other wild flowers, in the fall or winter and even into the very early spring. You can find seedlings at nurseries, but the poppies don’t like having their roots disturbed, so you’ll have much better luck sowing, or broadcasting, seeds.

Keep an eye on the weather in your micro-climate. Germination occurs best when temperatures are reliably in the 60 to 70 degree range. Pick the sunniest spot in your garden and water the planting area well.

Scatter the seeds — two to three every inch or about 20 seeds per square foot.

Resist the urge to cover the seeds with soil, compost or mulch. You want them to remain on top of the soil or very near it.

The biggest issue then will be with watering. The seeds can easily be washed away with over-zealous irrigation. Hand watering or misting with the hose is your best option. If you anticipate heavy rains, you can cover the seeds with a very thin layer — 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch of very fine sand.

It can take two to three weeks for the seeds to germinate and up to three months to bloom, depending on weather conditions and your location. Lightly water or mist once or twice day until the seeds have germinated.

If you’ve been overly generous with sowing the seeds, you should thin them to 8 to 12 inches apart.