Hey Annie
I don't think poppy seeds (for baking) are good for planting. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere. I'll find regular annual poppy seeds probably at one of the big box stores. Sometime in March, I'll push aside some of the fallen leaves that have gathered, and then carefully scratch up an area where I have lavender, yarrow, and some other stuff planted and scatter some poppy seed. *stupid me, last year I did the exact same thing, but had forgotten that I had laid down plastic around the other plants during the summer before to keep down the weeds. Only a few poor, scrawny little poppies somehow managed to come up this summer. This past fall I DID remember to pull up the plastic. *
A few years ago, I also tried Oriental poppies. I had only one survive and grow, but it never bloomed. It came back 2 years in a row, and still didn't bloom. Late this past summer I dug it up and moved it to a dry, much sunnier spot and when it got colder buried it in builders sand and topped it with pine branches. I'm hoping it comes back again this year, and maybe it will finally bloom because I changed it's location. That's if it doesn't croak BECAUSE I had moved it.
Take care, Jane