Q.help with poppies
I have beautiful enormous oriental poppies on my hill, 5 years old. I hired a company to trim a tree nearby and the guy totally stomped these huge plants down to the ground. They had finished blooming but I don’t know if I should cut back all the damage or depend on the tap root to make them ‘all fine’ for next season. I’m heartbroken.
help?
Alexa Conway
I think they will be OK. Only cut them back if leaves turn tan-brown. They may still be able to re-build the root. I have the orange, old-fashioned spreading poppy and even though I pull the leaves right after blooming - the absolutely worst time to remove leaves, the darn thing still comes back and blooms the following year. This "technic" does seem to keep it from spreading all over. Your tap-rooted oriental poppies are better suited to survival.