Any plants that have storage organs need to have the foliage remain on the
plant until they die back on their own.


TOM KAN PA wrote in message
...
I know that you let the foliage on bulb plants turn brown before cutting
them
back, in order to put strength back into the bulbs.
What about other plants, for instance the Oriental Poppy? Soon after the
blooms
are gone, the foliage looks like hell and starts "dying" back. Should
these
plants be allowed to look bad for awhile, or is it OK to cut them back
when the
blooms are gone? Any other plants that have to prepare theirselves for
next
year before you can do anything to them?