poppies and seeds

susananwms

Have planted poppy seeds for first time (did not know you put seeds in garden and I grew in pots) 
Not the first thing I got wrong.  They have grown to about 3 ft tall not the 1ft tall I was expecting and have spread alarmingly.  But I love them, they are gorgeous
My problem is that I do not want them to spread any further, in fact I am hoping that they do not come back and I can just plant them where I want them next year
Question is, I know you are supposed to dead head flowers to encourage ongoing growth but what do you do with poppies?
I have been snapping off what i suppose is the seed pod (thing left after flowering) and throwing away, not even sure whether to put in compost!!
Love the flowers but do not want them to take over

Lyn

I sow mine in trays in autumn and leave out in the GH all winter,  pot on and plant out where you want them.
You can put the seeds heads in the  compost if you take them off the plant still green, if you want to save some for sowing later they have to go black first, on the plant.
Don’t rely on the seeds being the same as the parent plant though,  they will be nice, but not always the same.

edited to say that when/if  you sow them, you just sprinkle them on the compost, don’t cover them. 

Big Blue Sky

They are definitely not invasive in my garden. I actually keep the seed heads on the plants trying to encourage them to come back, but only a few actually reappear , but if I didn’t want them - they have shallow roots, so very easy to remove.

susananwms

Thanks for your replies.  I am glad they only have shallow roots so will be easy to remove but will carry on removing the seed pods I think
Big Blue Sky these were poppy seeds from Wilko and I can thoroughly recommend them.  I even grew some in a pot as I thought they were going to be small and even these have flourished and it is definitely not my expert gardening as I do not have a clue really

susananwms

Meant transplanted one lot into a pot!!

StephenSouthwest

If they were mine I'd leave at least 1 seedhead to mature and dry on a plant, then keep the seed (cool and dry) to sow next year...

Butterfly66

@susananwms having read your post it sounds as if you are hoping to plant your poppies into the garden for next year? 

They are only annuals so will die after flowering this year, as suggested you will need to allow the seed pods to mature so you can collect some seed to sow for flowers next year or buy some new seed. Deadheading doesn’t prolong flowering for poppies, in my experience. They produce one set of flowers, which are open staggered over time rather than all at once and then go to seed.

susananwms

Thanks for your replies.  I think I confused the issue a bit in my first post.  I planted the seeds into seedling pots till they sprouted and then transferred 2 lots into the garden and one lot into a big pot.  I sowed too many seeds together so they have just massed into huge displays of poppies.  Butterfly I am glad to know that they are only annuals so I can decide where and how many I want for next year and Stephen I will keep some of the seed pods (never grown a plant from a plant before but will have a go)
I have gone overboard a bit with flowers this year but am going to be a bit more selective in choosing what I want for next year. 
Have kept labels for most so know what they are and have used my plant book for others but there is still a couple that Im not sure what they are so I may put them on here for identification

JennyJ

I'm more lazy with the poppies (and have limited space for raising seedlings in pots/trays) so the poppies are left to self-sow (sometimes I shake a ripe seed pod over an area where I definitely want them) and I pull out any that come up where I don't want them. Same with all the other self-seeders - honesty, campanulas, linaria, knautia, forget-me-not etc. It saves my indoor seed-raising space for the stuff that really needs it, but perhaps isn't for people who like more control over their garden.

Lyn

I’ve never had them self seed, maybe they do but the slugs are very partial and will have the tops off as soon as they poke up.

JennyJ

Dry sandy pebbly soil does have a few advantages