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poppy care after flowering

Jayne9dTVncJ7Jayne9dTVncJ7 Posts: 6
in Plants
Hello everyone, I’m new on here and new to gardening . This is the first time I’ve joined a forum, so bear with please. Just moved house, garden is wonderful , something new every day but I’ve no idea what I’m doing , so I’m starting with the poppies as I know what they are. Most have now flowered , the leaves on the stem are turning brown , do I remove them? Do I remove the seed heads ? Do I chop them down? I have purple poppies and small yellow ones...thank you in advance, j
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  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,949
    Hello Jayne, welcome to the forum  :)
    Is there any chance that you can post a photo of your poppies? 
    There are a couple of types, perennials and annuals, so the treatment depends on which type they are. 
  • BiljeBilje Posts: 756
    Well without a photograph I’d guess the purple poppies are annual ones, ie now they’ve flowered they’ll die. A test might be if you can pull it out easily it’s an annual. They’ll have “pepperpot” seed heads which if left will produce literally thousands of seeds. If you have a compost bin take off the seed heads and chuck them away. The rest of the plant can go in a compost bin.
    If you want more plants next year leave a seed head or two until they’re brown and seed rattles. Either collect the seed to sow next year or leave it to self seed.
    The yellow ones could be either californian poppy or welsh poppy. What do their seed heads look like? Long and thin or a small pepper pot? 
  • Jayne9dTVncJ7Jayne9dTVncJ7 Posts: 6
    thank you both, I think I’m responding to two replies , bit novice with the garden and the forum....if I’ve got it wrong, sorry. I’ll try and figure out how to post a picture , as I’m sure I’ll need a lot of plants identified ....
  • BiljeBilje Posts: 756
    Hello again Jayne, this is a lovely forum…complete novices to folk I’d call experts in their field. All are happy to help. I been a member for about 7 years….I only posted my first photograph a couple of weeks ago….felt very pleased with myself haha. 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,949
    The icon above the post box that looks like a mountain, if you click on that you should be able to download photos (hope that makes some kind of sense).
    Also, if you want to acknowledge replies or ask another question, you can tag that person in by putting an "@" sign in front of their forum name, like @Jayne9dTVncJ7 :)
    As you've just joined, you may still have all the admin information posts on the front page, there's one for downloading photos there, if l recall.
  • Jayne9dTVncJ7Jayne9dTVncJ7 Posts: 6
    Thank you soooo much , I think I’ve cracked it , here are my poppies , j


  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,415
    So we have perennial Welsh Poppies (the yellow ones) and annual Opium Poppies. 
  • Jayne9dTVncJ7Jayne9dTVncJ7 Posts: 6
    Thank you loxley , now I know what I have , what do I do with them? Leaves look tatty, but would like them back next year...
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    You can cut the Welsh poppies back to the ground whenever the foliage looks tatty and they will come back.  If you want to collect the seed from the annual poppies, leave them until the heads turn brown and you can hear the tiny seeds rattling inside before harvesting. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Jayne9dTVncJ7Jayne9dTVncJ7 Posts: 6
    Thank you, I’m such a novice I need more info, I’ve started with the poppies as they seem spent , so when do a I re sow the seeds and what do I do with the stems and leaves? Been in the house four weeks, thrilled with the garden and don’t want to let it go to pot 😀
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