I have some in flower in the sunny part of the garden but lots in bud in the shady parts.

They are flowering now, Lady up the road from me has them blooming in her front garden

Do either of you have any pictures so that I can see if it the same plant? I couldn't believe the size of the clump - it was huge!

My oriental poppies usually flower in the second week of May, it is not too early, if anything they may have been out one or two weeks now. They are the easiest thing to grow and you get tonnes of seed to give away, but don't last long and the petals can be washed away by the rain.

Another great thing about them is thay they will grow next to the bottom of a leylandii hedge, where not many other things will grow, assuming that they get enough light.

No photo, but it has hairy stems/buds, serragated leaves and large saucer like red flowers with black markings at base of petals. are these the ones you seen

Have a look at my photo's taken a couple of days ago :)