I have done Merlin with my orientals.....Monty Don in the Mail,says to do this and plant something in the space to let it establish before a second flush later on,sounds like a good plan to me.I'm using some begonias.

Thanks Poppy, what a good idea to plant in the space - they do take up loads of space and will leave a big gap.

i tend to just remove the flower after its finished so it doesnt set seed.

I think you also need to keep watering well to get it to flower a second time

I usually cut my orientsl poppies right back to ground to get a 2nd flush. Never as many as first time though. Except this year. They haven't finished flowering for the first time.

Thankyou all for your very useful answers. Mine have finished flowering and what promised to be a fabulous show turned out to be a mess of beaten down flowers, most of which didn't open properly or when they did, very quickly regretted it. It would be a treat to see even one or two of these beauties later in the year.

Gardening is so full of pleasant surprises and also disappointments. To me, the former outweigh the latter and I make lots of mistakes but learning keeps me hooked. I notice that even Bamboo and other pros learn new stuff all the time.

You never stop learning with gardening