I would like my poppies to bloom a little later, so they coincide with my delphinium. If I cut back the first flower sprouts, will they produce new ones? Analagous to cutting the central stalk of a dahlia.

TIA
LAS

I dont think I have ever heard of this but the question intreagued me so here is a You-Tube that suggests you can cut back bloom stems and the plant makes more.
I hope I understood her correctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Thanks!

Re Papaver orientale; not to my knowledge, at least here.

By mid to late summer the whole plant goes dormant.
The problem with this is that if several are planted together, in a mixed perennial bed, you'll end up with a big gap for the rest of the growing season.
(I cut the dead plant material down as quite unattractive).

Below a cultivar I planted in 2008 and which was still going strong this year.
(June 30, 2009)

I'd be wary of cutting them down in hopes of delaying/extending bloom. I watched the YouTube vid and I am not sure I trust the information....mostly because Papaver orientalis (the perennial poppy) is absolutely NOT the opium poppy (P. sominferous...not sure of spelling; this is an annual poppy). If the presenter is not sure of that fact, I don't think I'd trust her information. I'm always leery of those who don't get important facts right.

Even the so called Super Poppies that is said to be a rebloomer is questionable at least in my Z:5 garden.