rach wrote:

Where the heck *don't* poppies grow...?

The hot and humid coastal south. At least, I've never been able to
get them to.

If you're talking south-coastal USA... Have you tried just scattering poppy
seeds (the ones you'd buy to make bagels or cake) in some freshly tilled
soil around mid-January to mid-February?

Those things are happy to grow almost anywhere more than 25º from the
equator, they don't need much water or feeding (but will tolerate quite a
bit of either), and they're robust, very pretty annuals. Although you
wouldn't get to choose the colour of flowers grown from grocery-store seed,
chances are pretty good you'd wind up with Dutch seed that produces pale
mauve petals that fade to deep violet centres, dark purple-brown stamens and
*tons* of seed for later plantings - or even for baking, if you're into
growing and harvesting 1000 square feet of the things or more. ;-)