Cardiocrinums (clearly close relatives of lilies) are wonderful plants for the Meconopsis garden. This is Cardiocrinum giganteum yunnanense. It flowers from top down and has often a dark purple stem. The flower spike is not as tall as the other other subspecies -  C. g. giganteum. This will be illustrated once it has flowered. They take about 9 years to flower from seed and this first spike is always very tall (6 - 7 feet) but after that the old bulb dies. This is not the end however as it  is surrounded by offsets of varying age and usually one or more will be large enough to flower every year almost indefinitely if in a rich bed with plenty of nutrients. They have a lovely smell too.

There are two spikes growing together here.

Found this in flower today and totally intrigued. It was sown 3 years ago from my own seed of Nomocharis hybrids (Nomocharis used to be included in Lilium).  It looks like a bi generic hybrid with a lily and most likely the wonderful pink form of Lilium macklinae which grows nearby.

 from Nagaland.

BOTTOM IMAGE -------- This is a flowering spike of P.C.Abildegaard. This will almost certainly be yet another of the classic crosses of M. betonicifolia crossed with M. grandis. (all called M. x Sheldonii). It was named and distributed by Evelyn Stevens of the Meconopsis Group in the U.K. from material sent to her from a University in Copenhagen, Denmark and named after a professor there. The origin of this plant in Denmark is not known.  In Wick, where this image was taken, it is very perennial and regularly sends out suckers making propagation very easy - indeed I took six from suckers up to 60cms. away last year. The flowers, at least in Wick, always have vague mauve overtones. It has been likened to the wonderful hybrid produced in Edinburgh many years ago from the same parents and subsequently named by an Irish garden as Slieve Donard -  but with that wonderful cultivar it has always been a perfect blue where ever I have grown it. Slieve Donard is illustrated on this site on the entry for May 29th growing at the Royal Botanic Gardens this year. 

TOP IMAGE ----------- I have added an image of the perfect blue Slieve Donard growing for comparison in the lovely woodland garden of the Cox family at Glendoick (only open until the end of May).

The Arisaemas are a genus often associated with Meconopsis rich gardens. Many come from China and one of the best is Arisaema candidissima. This normally is relatively dwarf and late through (mid to late June) but rapidly comes into flower. There are many larger species but most of these suit a large woodland garden. A few years ago white and yellow forms of this were offered by a Chinese nursery but both proved to be the usual pink form

Perhaps the most famous blue poppy of them all - it has for nlong been known as  GS600 (wrongly! - since like all the collections of Ludlow and Sherriff it should be L and S 600). The seed of this was collected by Ludlow and Sherriff in 1934 on the Nyuksang La in Bhutan. It was their 600 th collection that year. The first -  L and S 1 - was Primula gracilipes. They returned to collect seed later and is probably their most famous collection from all their trips both before and after the second world war. It does not set seed anymore but recent visitors to this area report very similar plants there to this day. They were fortunate to get seed since when they 

returned in the autumn to collect it the whole area had been trampled by yaks. All this is written up in 'A Quest of Flowers' by Dr Harold Fletcher of the R.B.G. Edinburgh (1975). I might add that even Dr. Fletcher called it GS 600!

Dactylorhizas self seed in my Meconopsis garden and I have given literally thousands away. This one is truly gorgeous and is called Eskimo Nell. It was given me a few years ago by Fred Hunt of Invergowrie, Tayside - one of the all time greats of Scottish Rock Garden club shows. He had bought it from the late Gerry Munday. I am sure it was produced from a cross with D. elata and a 'white' form of D. fuchsii. Not at all sure if this was done in culture or whether the cross arose from sowing actual seed. I have a white form of D. fuchsii which I collected very many years ago from the Irish Republic. This is a totally different plant in size, structure and flowering time.

They were well grazed by sheep and until they flowered I did not know what they were. Mine are not out yet and I will illustrate them in a few weeks.

Eskimo Nell is very strong growing and looks healthy and has clumped up well in about 4 years and I have given a number away.

There are many Iris species and hybrids that complement Meconopsis plants. This one is a black form of Iris sibirica (or hybrid) with virtually no markings