Thursday 26 March 2015

'Meconopsis napaulensis'. This is all really rather a muddle since unless they have been recently collected from the wild they can be very complex hybrids. What follows is strictly for gardeners and not taxonomists! The true species in the wild is variable but always seems to be yellow flowered. In cultivation from seed lists and  nurserymen what you will get is almost certainly a hybrid which may involve a number of species including M. paniculata (which recently has been found in the wild as red and pink forms) as well as pink coloured species like M. staintonii. If you go to a seed list like that of the Scottish Rock Garden Club they list a whole range of coloured hybrids. They are easy to germinate and grow on, - even in dry parts. They have lovely rosettes in winter with varying coloured hairs and they eventually after 2 or 3 years send up a tall spike with many racemes of flowers.