Iceland Poppies

Question from Lesley:

Hi Pat!

Thanks for all your help so far; discovering your book 2 years ago has had such a lovely and positive effect on my garden.

My question is about iceland poppies, and other winter annuals. The timing of annuals in SoCal still perplexes me a bit. In your book you say now (September-October) is the time to get iceland poppies planted for a long bloom season. I bought a few pony packs today and they are already at full gorgeous bloom. They were also on sale.

Did I make a mistake? Are these at the end of their life, or just beginning their winter bloom early? So confused.

Also, will they grow well in a container?

Answer from Pat:

For many years growers didn’t get the seeds of Iceland poppies planted soon enough. As a result tiny plants not yet in bloom were sold in October and not even available in September. Most likely due to my 30 years of harping on this subject, talking to seed companies and also due to my book which gets people to ask for them, growers are waking up to the fact that they need to provide cool-season annuals beginning in September and warm-season annuals beginning in March.

Thank you for letting me know you found the plants in bloom. Great! Prepare your bed in full sun, dig soil amendment into the top 8 inches to one foot, dig fertilizer according to package directions into the top 6 to 8 inches of the soil, soak the bed with the sprinkler on for 20 minutes and let settle overnight. The next day do not step on the prepared soil, plant the plants at the correct distance apart in a diamond pattern all over the bed solidly. Or plant in large flat containers and feed with slow release or liquid fertilizers. Loosen roots up gently—just fondle them a little before putting plants into the ground. Water well after planting. Protect from slugs and snails, deadhead regularly, and you will have flowers all winter long into spring. Depending on the weather, plants may last and continue flowering non-stop until May before fading. Some Iceland poppies fall over because stems are not sturdy enough, but newer varieties and growing in full sun seem to mitigate this problem. Iceland poppies are one of the most satisfactory and cheerful of all winter annuals, or “cool-season” flowers. (The correct common name is Iceland poppies not Icelandic.)