Hi
@KelliW: I don't know how soon your soil will freeze, but it's probably fine to plant them. I brought some indoors for the swap, then when I saw they'd sprouted I thought it was the indoor temps/lighting and I went to harvest more. However those still on the onion stalks had sprouted too, and I guess they stay that way all through the winter, and whenever the stalk falls over they start rooting.
I don't know if having been indoors for awhile the outdoor temps might shock them so you could perhaps put them in your fridge for a few days before planting them outside. And to be very safe, keep a couple growing indoors?
Regarding sowing poppies, a WS friend of mine had great success with a combination of direct sowing and wintersowing. She prepared a spot in the garden, direct sowed, then made a ventilated plastic structure over them to prevent animal digging and washing away, and to keep it nicely moist for sprouting. She may have done it in late winter, but I can't recall.
