It seems to glow in that shady corner and the delicate white petals are as fragile as tissue paper. There are several flowers on the one plant so flowering covers quite a long period.
Growing Notes
The meconopsis originate from high up in the Himalayas and are part of the family papaveraceae.
The plant grows to about 4 feet tall.
The advice from many of the experts when buying meconopsis plants is to buy small and give the plant time to establish before flowering. If buying a larger plant in flower it may not prove to be perennial. No matter the up side is that the seed is easy to collect and propagation is not difficult if you know how..The secret is to mimic it's natural growing conditions ie cool and bright. There's a very good piece on propagation on the Garden of Eaden site
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-grow-himalayan-blue-poppy-from.html
The plants like a cool root run in a humus rich soil which is acid to neutral. It should be planted in a sheltered position in shade or dappled shade. The clumps can be divided every few years in the spring or autumn.
They're beautiful - I have Meconopsis envy again now, and I'd only just recovered from seeing Shirl's blue & yellow ones ::)
ReplyDeleteSadly they won't grow for me here in my alkaline clay.
I seem to remember that Vita Sackville-West said that any plant can be grown in a pot. It's not a plant you ever see in pots is it?
ReplyDeleteNo - in fact I've tried to grow both Meconopsis betonicifolia and Meconopsis cambrica in pots and failed. I'll just have to make sure I move to somewhere with acid soil and shade!
ReplyDeleteLove your white meconopsis, I have finally cracked it with the blue ones, had loads in flower this year for the first time and plenty of seedlings to follow on. Thanks for visiting my blog, I will now have a happy time exploring yours.
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