Saving Wild Poppy Seed - How/When to sow?

[chilliking]

On the verge outside of our house we have some wild poppies that flowered a few weeks ago. There was a much bigger outcrop down the hill which looked fabulous.

I'd like to harvest some seed from the bottom of the hill and 'sow' it on the verge up near our house in the hope that next year (and future years) we'll get a nice display of wild red poppies.

I"m harvesting some seed pods just as they start to dry out. However I'm at a bit of a loss as to how/when I should sow it on the verge?

In terms of when I guess i could emulate nature and just sprinkle them around now ish. Or Should I wait until the autum or even spring?

In terms of how I've had a few thoughts:
- Sprinkle it around on the verge just before some rain
- Mix with compost and sprinkle on the verge
- Cut a few patches of the long grass from the verge short and dig some seed in with a trowel/fork

FYI the grass verge is a typical country verge so uncut grass and pretty wild.

Any thoughts/ideas about what I should do with the seed and when in order to get a good spread of 'wild' poppies in future years?

[Mr Bones]

As far as I know just scatter them when you're ready and they'll come up when they're ready. Poppies can lay dormant for a long time (I did read 100 years but can't confirm it). I scattered about a litre of seed on nearby set aside land and ten years later have still to see a single flower, they do however pop up all over my allotment and I've neither sown or allowed them to set seed there.

[burnie]

I grow them and you collect the seed heads when brown and scatter them where you want them to grow.

[cheops]

Just as Brunei says. Think of how nature does it. When the seed heads are ready to open the seeds scatter and fall to the ground in nature. Collect seed heads that are brown and open/ready to open. put them in a freezer bag and shake. `Leave bag open for air to circulate and place on a window sill. After about a week all seed heads should now be open so again shake well. You will now have a lot of seeds to scatter NOW where you wish - you will be scattering them at the time nature intended to scatter them.

[Nicos]

They grow best on disturbed soil.
I've never had success sowing them onto rough grassy areas!
They grow here mostly on the edges of fields of crops, along with cornflowers, just at the edge of the ploughed soil.

[DannyK]

You could try growing seed in modules and planting out in the verge. Then let them self-seed.

Never had much luck with deliberate sowing but plenty of self-sown. Almost a weed now!

[Ocelot]

Mine seem to pop up in random, inconvenient places, in ultra-well drained spots.

The disturbed ground thing was probably why so many poppies grew on the WW1 battle sites in France.

[shushkin!]

I collect lots of flower seed and basically I just scatter the Meconopsis cambrica, lychnis cornonaria or smrynium seed wherever and they pop up when they are ready.