Poppy mess
Hi, this came up on a separate thread about penstemons but I need to know what to do. There is massive red oriental poppy which at the back of garden on a raised bed/rockery. It's huge!! Loads of flowers this year. It's just collapsed into a big mess now. It came in handy today as after work, I was having a tug of war with an huge old dead rose root which was deeply embedded and I was trying to pull out. The root popped out when I was on my biggest pull and I went flying backwards in true slapstick cartoon style!! No one was around but I'm sure it would have been quite a laugh! Luckily this huge flopped oriental poppy provided a thick cushion and I landed (with the rose root) on my bum right onto the middle of it! Otherwise I would have landed on some rocks underneath and injured myself for sure. Lesson - don't try this at home.
Anyway back to Poppy sorry .. I can't remember what was done about it last year as I wasn't around. Do I leave it as it is so it dies down itself? Leave it in case of more accidents on the rockery?! Or should I divide it up and plant elsewhere (it would be nice to have some more of these planted in different areas of the garden). If dividing, when would I do this? Do I cut all the petal-less heads off now? Do I cut the leaves?I am new to gardening and don't really know what I'm doing as you can proabably tell!
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Trim it down now, it wlll shoot fresh leaves or die down completely. Split it up or take root cuttings in Spring. Just dig it up as it starts to grow, It will probably fall apart. Plant each bit where you want it. Dont expect flowers the first year.
I should point out that I've moved this three times. I always seem to manage to leave a bit behind which comes up again.
Thanks. Can I not split it now? Do I have to wait until next spring?
As Fidget said you can cut it all down now to tidy up but I would leave splitting or take root cuttings until autumn or spring. I'm glad it gave you a soft landing
That's the correct way, but they are very hard to kill. If you really can't bear it, cut off the flower/seed heads but leave the leaves. Dig REALLY deep and replant immediately, in good soil. Make sure it doesn't dry out but don't drown it. But you could just have a cup of tea and think about planning your Spring reorganisation!