Topic: Poppies

[anemone]

It's the first year my oriental poppies have bloomed and the first few flowers have gone over - do i deadhead them or leave the seed pods? Will deadheading make more flowers come?

[betula]

I collect the seeds and then broadcast them :)

[star]

Dried seed heads go well in a dried flower arrangement as well, or the seeds on home baked bread :D

[Sinbad7]

It was my first year last year of growing these and I was disappointed in them so just left them but this year they are truly beautiful.  I took some photo's of them yesterday.  So, I would say you don't dead head them, mine are covered in buds waiting to burst forth.


Sinbad

[Sinbad7]

I've just managed to put a couple of photo's in my gallery of them.I am so proud of them :)

Sinbad

[Froglegs]

I dead head mine much better to take root cuttings,this is Petty's plum.

[betula]

Beautiful

[Mrs Ava]

I believe the quicker you dead head, the more flowers you will encourage.

[GrannieAnnie]

I collect the seeds and then broadcast them :)

Do you plant them the same year or wait for next Spring?  I'm still waiting  anxiously for buds and flowers on mine.

[Lindsay]

I took a few from the seed swap this week - but maybe its too late for this year? Better to plant them now, in the autumn or next spring?

[star]

If you follow the course of nature, letting the seeds dry on the plant then when they rattle, take the seed head off and use it as a salt cellar to scatter the seeds ;)

[Sinbad7]

When I looked at my poppies today, where most of the petals had dropped off of one of the flower's a load of what I thought seeds fell out.  They reminded me of marigold seeds, so as it hadn't had time to dry out what were these?

Sinbad

[anemone]

Oooh i didn't think of using the seeds on bread. Sinbad7 & froglegs your pics are beautiful !

I've had them 3 years - the first year they looked healthy but no flowers, last year I moved them and no flowers, so i'm really happy they're blooming now !

[Robert_Brenchley]

I think the answer depends on what you want for next year. I have loads of self-set opuim poppies every year; I pull out the wishy-washy ones, and encourage the better colours to seed.