James Cobb

The webmaster, Dr. James Cobb is a retired zoologist from St. Andrews University on the East Coast of Scotland, U.K.  He lives within 1/2 mile of the North Sea and the garden can be subject to salt spray.  It is amongst the driest parts of the United Kingdom and 25 inches of rain throughout the year can be typical.  Day temperatures over 24C are rare but in the last 10 to 15 years the climate has become hotter and drier.  Meconopsis that were easy to grow are now much more difficult - bright sunshine and a lack of humidity now being the main problems.

I have a daughter in Caithness - Northern mainland Scotland.  I have trial beds for all my Meconopsis there.  Days over 22C are very rare, the air is moister and most days, it is cool.  There are long hours of light in Summer.  Meconopsis are still very easy to grow there.  Finally, I have a daughter in Cumbria - NW England.  This used to be a classic place for growing Meconopsis.  They still grow well there, but a really hot Summer can still cause serious losses.  Some of the most successful Meconopsis are now grown in Norway - even North of the Arctic Circle and, accepting some very talented growers there, it does seem that cool Northern climates are what Meconopsis like best ( away from their Himalayan home ).