Oriental Poppies

My oriental poppies finally bloomed! I collected the seeds of these the year before last and sowed them last year. Poppy seeds are small so they should be sprinkled on the surface of moistened seed compost in a tray and not covered with compost. Cover the tray with aluminium foil, a magazine or whatever and place in a warm are until germination. After about a week, check the tray each day and once germination occurs, uncover the tray immediately to prevent straggling of the seedlings. Keep the compost moist but don't over water. Seedlings can be transplanted into pots after they acquire about 3 pairs of leaves. And watch out for slugs!! Don't transplant into the ground until the plants have become so large that they can survive being partially eaten by these pests.