If the seeds are fresh you should have no problem with WSing M. grandis, many people have. The problem comes from getting it to survive in a climate outside of the PNW.

You can't really compare it to your oriental poppy seed, like apples to oranges. Meconopsis seed, depending on how fresh, can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months.

Trudi- well...that's disappointing. I ordered these seeds from TM and the description says 5-8. I am 5b. Unless the zone is 5 in the PNW also?? I realize now that 'conditions' are different. :)
Well, if they sprout that will be something for me to be happy over.

The Z5 could be Alaska, Norway etc where they grow well. Hardy Z5-8 - and probably even to Z4 with snow cover since they originate in the Mts of Tibet and China - only addresses how cold hardy, it doesn't tell you what kind of cool summer growing season they require. Most seed catalogs don't point that out when offering these, although the better nurseries will.

oh well...guess they will be an annual for me. :)