Poppy Theory

My neighbor says he's never been able to keep his poppies. The tiny starters I got from Bluestone reliably come up year after year, forming nice little crowns about this time of year. They're a kind of junior-size poppy, they bloom and bloom, but they're not as tall as full-size ones. Even in this year of draught here, they look fine. He's the nice neighbor who waters and cares for his things so well -- maybe poppies actually prefer to be dry in the summer. Dry heat and neglect, my theory for thriving poppies.

This seems to be working for those horned poppies too. You know, they're still blooming. My theory that's forming on these is that they're actually a weed from California. How else to explain their vigor?