Can you tell us the type of poppy you have? Is it a perennial like Papaver orientalis or an annual like P rhoeas? The distinction is relevant for how the plant will behave in future and what you should do with it.

Oriental poppies are summer die-backs. This is normal so do not yank it out - just cut off the yellowing/browning leaves to tidy up the space it occupied. You'll probably see some new growth starting again later in the fall.

I'm not sure what type of poppy it is other than the fact that it's supposed to be perennial, but I'll try the advice of cutting back and see what happens. I just examined again and didn't see any evidence of infestation, although I'm oddly lacking aphids on my pepper plants so it's possible something strange is happening. I do have a horrific hobo problem and sprayed about a month ago, so I may have thrown the bugs all off balance attempting to keep the nasty poisonous spiders out of the house :( Thank you for the replies! I was getting strange search results :)

OK - if it's a perennial just do as pinkiemarie suggests. The summer dieback is not related to any pest. It's just heat and dryness. With the cooler temps and increased rainfall later in the year your plants should push up fresh foliage.

I'm not sure what type of poppy it is other than the fact that it's supposed to be perennial, but I'll try the advice of cutting back and see what happens. I just examined again and didn't see any evidence of infestation, although I'm oddly lacking aphids on my pepper plants so it's possible something strange is happening. I do have a horrific hobo problem and sprayed about a month ago, so I may have thrown the bugs all off balance attempting to keep the nasty poisonous spiders out of the house :( Thank you for the replies! I was getting strange search results :)

Umm hobo, isn't that a homeless person ? Is that relevant to the poppy problem ?

Hobos are large, aggressive spiders with necrotic venom and it takes large amounts of pesticides to kill them. So yeah, it could be relevant if the problem were bug related. If I also accidentally killed off a beneficial pest and threw everything off balance it would definitely matter.

Sorry to read about your spider problem - I hope you get it under control.

As others have said, this is normal behavior for Papaver orientalis. I had them in my garden at one time, and planted them towards the back of the bed so that other plants would hide the hole they left when the leaves died back. Sometimes the seedheads stay around and remain upright after the foliage is gone, and I would leave them to add some sculptural interest.

Oriental poppies are so supremely ugly after the very short bloom and leave such a big hole in the garden that I stopped growing them many years ago. Now I have Papaver rhoeas, which bloom for many weeks and when they're done, I simply pull them, scattering some seed at the same time. I've had them for years and all I have to do is edit the seedlings the following spring.

Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions. Assuming they grow back I'll just leave them. If for some reason they've died I'll try planting in back next time. I live in a condo in zone 5 with about 2 feet of gardening space in front so I grow some veggies in containers--easier to start them indoors and finish ripening indoors if necessary. The poppies wouldn't even be noticeable behind the containers but the pretty flowers are tall enough to see them :)

There are some, called 'Super Poppies' & in my area, they tend to retain some leaves & stay green thoughout the summer. It may be possible that in your zone, they may even actually have a repeat (second) flowering period, as the weather cools off. I suppose, it is approximately shortly after the ordinary ones, begin to show new growth again, next month.
I managed to get a seed packet imported, of the new cv. 'Plum Pudding' by T& M (of U.K. , via Germany) planning to sow soon and have hopes it may show similar characteristics.