The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra is prepping for the April 25 "Oz with Orchestra," playing the score live while "The Wizard of Oz" plays on a huge screen, and it reminds me of one of my favorite scenes - and favorite flowers.

The Wicked Witch of the West conjures a field of lush crimson poppies, and their narcotic quality sends Dorothy and her pals to dreamland. The Witch uses the Papaver somniferum (sleep-bringing poppy). Unless you're living in Afghanistan and growing poppies as a cash crop, it's best to stick to other crepe-paper poppies like Orientals, Shirleys and Icelands.

For the movie, it took 20 stage hands a week to set up 40,000 wire poppies used in the scene. Sowing poppy seeds in the garden isn't quite so labor-intensive.

Years ago, orange-red Oriental poppies bloomed from late spring to midsummer in one of my flower beds. Like foxglove, if poppies like a spot, they'll thrive. They bloomed profusely, faded, dried and dispersed seed. Eventually the bed was swallowed by poppies, so I ruthlessly yanked out many of the plants. Now I miss them.

Annual and perennial poppies have a place in flower gardens and wildflower gardens. Billowy and regal Oriental poppies; cheerful Shirley poppies; silky and ethereal Angel Wing poppies; and Flanders poppies, rich in history, are favorites. Shirley and Angel Wing poppies are from the Flanders poppies.

Shirley and Angel Wing poppy seeds can be sown in the garden in spring. The reward is soft pastel poppies with single or double paper-thin, nearly transparent petals. Colors include white, shades of palest pink and yellow, even orange reminiscent of Dreamsicle.

Stagger sowings of annual poppies for an extended season of bloom. Poppies need sun but will fade in summer heat. They dislike wet feet, so find an area that is well-drained.

Perennial Oriental poppies are exotic beauties. "Ruffled Princess of Orange" is a hybrid that offers ruffled orange petals tinted with pink and a dark black eye. "Raspberry Queen" sounds luscious with huge flowers, velvety fringed and frilled petals with bold markings and a dark eye.

Plants can reach up to 4 feet tall. Foliage will die back in summer and begin to grow again in the fall. Oriental poppies are hardy in Zone 4.

Iceland poppies, another perennial, have giant blossoms with blue-green foliage and are supposed to be winter hardy to Zone 2. Colors include apricot, white and gold.

Try poppies with alliums, yellow or paprika-colored yarrows, perennial salvias, foxgloves, lupines and larkspurs, as well as Shasta daisies. Bearded iris look fabulous with Oriental poppies.

Poppies can handle a little frost and germinate best in cool weather and cool soil.

Planting poppies

• Sunny, well-drained location.
• Add compost or organic enrichment to soil.
• Mix poppy seeds with sand to prevent clumping.
• Press seeds lightly into soil; cover with a thin sprinkling of soil. Seeds need light to germinate. Water gently to prevent clumping. Keep soil moist, not wet, for germination, which can take several weeks. Thin seedlings as needed when seedlings reach 1 inch tall.
• Poppies hate being transplanted.

Container poppies

• Tuck sparingly into pots or containers. Choose large pots with drainage holes and use a light potting mix.
• Avoid disturbing the roots when transplanting. Set at the same level in the container as the bedding plant pot.
• Water as needed.

Purchasing poppy bedding plants

• Buy young plants with multiple stems and closed buds; try to avoid plants with yellowed leaves or a mushy crown, as these are signs of overwatering.