It's not too early to plant seeds for flowering annuals

There's no such thing as instant gratification in gardening, but some flowers come close.

The wait for spring is over if you have seed packets of bachelor buttons, California poppies, California bluebells or any of the annual varieties of true poppies, such as peony-flowered or Shirley poppies.

It's impossible to plant seeds too early for any of these colorful flowers. I sometimes even scatter their seeds on top of snow, allowing the seeds to settle into the soil as the snow melts. Whatever you do, don't wait until after the weather warms to get started. All these annuals bloom well in cool weather but tend to collapse in summer's heat.

Once you sow some seeds of any of these quick-to-bloom annuals in your garden, you can expect them to reward you with new volunteer plants year after year, sprouting from seeds that self-sow.

Don't think you have a green thumb? Not a problem! All these early-bird flowers can take care of themselves and will thrive even in poor, dry soil. Scatter the seeds in a sunny spot with well-drained soil, then stand back and watch them grow and bloom. Only gardeners who coddle their plants with too much water and fertilizer are apt to be disappointed.

California poppies, although not true poppies, are close relatives that have similar, cup-shaped blossoms. Each plant makes a mound of ferny foliage about a foot tall, covered with bright blossoms in your choice of colors that include mostly shades of orange and yellow but also cream, pink, red and rose.

Bachelor buttons, also known as cornflowers, are old-fashioned favorites great for bouquets or dried flowers. Their gray-green foliage contrasts nicely with the ragged petals of blue, pink, red, roseˆ½ or white.

California bluebells are seldom seen in Midwest gardens, which is a pity. Their 1-inch, bell-shaped flowers are an intense, dark blue that combines well with all other garden colors. Bushy plants grow 6 to 8 inches tall.

Annual poppies offer delightful choices. There are the so-called peony-flowered poppies, with big, frilly blossoms in pink, purple, red or white. Shirley poppies often have double flowers with extra petals, too, and come in many colorful blends. Iceland poppies -- although perennial in cooler climates -- behave like annuals here in the Midwest. They bloom in all the common poppy colors, plus cream and yellow. At about a foot tall, Iceland poppies are shorter than most poppies.

All poppies make wonderful cut flowers, provided you stop the flow of milky sap by dipping cut stems in boiling water.