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| HEllo there Garden world. I just moved from Texas to Washington and bought a house with a garden full of things I have no idea about.
Namely, I had no idea about what to do with what I determined were oriental poppys. They bloomed and were fabulous to look at then started to brown and die out. AFter a search of previously posted questions, I now know that they are perennial, like well drained soil, and don't transplant well. All well and good. So I cut back the brown poppy plants and saved the seed pods.. some were dried out and brown, some were green. The seed pods that were dried out and brown i sprinkled back into the garden and the green seed pods i put in a brown paper sack to further dry out and collect the seeds. I read a reply on another question about poppys that said that if you harvest the seed pods before they completely dry out they are no good. Is this true? Also, did I do the right thing with the dried out ones? Just sprinkle them back into the soil so that hopefuly even more plants come up next year? Or should I have saved them and sprinkled them in the soil in the spring? Thanks in advance, Amanda |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| First, don't assume the plants that turned brown are dead. Oriental poppies do this. The foliage dies back after flowering, but you'll probably see new foliage emerging soon. That's what mine always did. I can't answer the question about the green seed pods, but if you sprinkled the seed of even one ripe pod in your garden you'll probably have more poppies than you could possibly ever want next spring. If you sprinkled the seed of 2 pods, you will probably have enough plants to start a business. In other words, I guess I wouldn't even bother with the green ones. You're set. Kevin |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sat, Jul 31, 10 at 23:08
| I agree with Kevin :-) In fact, unless you want oriental poppies all over your garden area (and yes, they are very difficult to transplant), I'd just cut off the seed pods, green or brown, and get rid of them. There is such a thing as too many oriental poppies! And are you sure they are oriental poppies? Peony or breadseed poppies (Papaver somniferum) are very common in this area and have now finished flowering and gone to seed. I'd always shake a few of their seed pods around when I pulled out the plants at the end of their season (these are annuals) and that provided more than enough new plants for next season. Typically, these seeds will remain doramnt until early next spring and you can thin or remove as necessary when they appear then and are still small. |
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| Well my question is when should I cut off the seed pod. I would like to try and reseed mine next spring. I've had one poppy plant for 3 years and I've never saved the seed pod. Actually I wasn't aware that it had a seed pod. I was reading that generally poppies will reseed and you will have several more flowers the following year. So far this hasn't happened for me. :-( so now that I know what a seed pod is I'd look to save the seeds. Thanks for the help everyone. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 7:35
| when the pod is ripe.. the magical top will pop open to release the seeds ... to INSURE the seed is ripe.. you should wait until this sign tells you they are ripe.. at that time either spread them around.. or dump them into an envelope and store appropriately ... if you had started your own post.. this reply could have come to your email.. rather than the long lost posters email ... NOT all poppy will reseed freely.. so starting with an ID would be a good way to start ... obviously yours is perennial ... apparently you are real good at deadheading .. lol ... seed collecting would be the polar opposite of cutting all the flower scapes off as soon as flowers fade ken |
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| The seeds are ripe and ready to be collected when holes develop between the top cap looking part of the pod and the base. This will happen as the pod browns. Remy |
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