Hybrids - Photos In The Garden

This is named 7/8ths. It was created from a M. x Cookei cross made by Leslie Drummond of Forfar on the East Coast of Scotland. He then back crossed this to M. punicea and then again back crossed with M. punicea producing a plant that is 7/8th M. punicea. This is a perennial plant, which is valuable, but not as large and refined a plant as the species. Nevertheless very interesting. It is just possible that this cross occurs in the wild and may account for reports that in the wild M. punicea can be perennial.	A cross between M. delavayi and M. quintuplinervia made by Leslie Drummond. Perennial with characters largely derived from M. quintuplinervia.
The cross between M. betonicifolia and M. grandis has been made many times.It was named x Sheldonii after the man who first made it. Most crosses probably used the Himalayan as opposed to the Chinese M. betonicifolia but a great variety of M. grandis have been used and there is much variability in the cross. This cross ended up in Ireland and was named Slieve Donard. The best blues are subjective but this is invariably without any trace of purple, vigorous, very perennial and in my opinion the best of many very similar big blue poppies.	This is the cross between M. simplicifolia and M. grandis and was originally called M. x Hybrida by Charles Puddle who first made it. This plant is growing in the garden of Avril and Leslie Drummond in Forfar on the east coast of Scotland. He has called it M. x Simplygrand. This shows the stem leaves of M. grandis but is otherwise a typical big blue poppy. It is interesting since this cross has probaly occured spontaneously in gardens many times or maybe even in the wild but not recognised.
Another hybrid blue poppy but actual parentage is not certain but probably a x Sheldonii. This is Mrs Jebbs. It is one of the most distinctive being a medium sized plant but with very cup shaped medium sized flowers. Sufficiently distinct to be worth adding to a collection and very long lived especially if regularly divided. Does not set seed.	Many of the big blue poppies are named after places or people associated with their origins. This is another sterile hybrid rescued from George Sherriff's garden at Ascrievie north of Dundee. The rather flat flower is typical but the differences between many of these blue hybrids is at best subtle. Growing in the garden of Fred Hunt in Invergowrie, Tayside.
Marit. Grown in Norway from Lingholm seed. The webmaster has also had five of these cream Meconopsis from Lingholm seed, they are perennial but sterile. The cream colour seems likely to be a backcross with either M integrifolia or more likely M. pseudointegrifolia. The fact that it is sterile supports this hypothesis since one would expect an albino plant to be white but also fertile. There are a number of cream hybrids between blue species and M. integ/pseudointeg.	The hybrid between M. punicea and M. quintuplinervia 'Old Rose' (left) and 'Satin' (right). Ian Christie.
Hybrids have been recorded between many unlikely species of Meconopsis in the garden. This is a hybrid between something like M. paniculata and M. horridula. It behaved like a standard evergreen monocarpic and died after flowering and set what looked like viable seed but this did not germinate. The growth form was M. paniculata but the buds and leaves spiny like M. horridula.	The same hybrid between M. delavayi and M. quintuplinervia as image 2 above growing in the webmasters garden. This is a nice perennial plant and easy to grow but not really as good as either parent.