I FEAR I COULD NOT RESIST THIS. ROAD WIDENING OPPOSITE THE HOUSE. BARE SOIL JUST LEFT UNTOUCHED SINCE THE SPRING. A LOVELY SIGHT OF THE WILD RED POPPY BUT WHERE DO THE SEEDS COME FROM ?!.THIS IS LIKE WHAT USED TO BE KNOWN AS MECONOPSIS CAMBICA (the welsh poppy) THEY MUST SURVIVE FOR MANY YEARS AS DORMANT SEEDS AND THEN GERMINATE WHEN THE SOIL IS DISTURBED. PS Sorry I forgot the picture when I made this post.

One of the advantages of writing about Meconopsis in this way is that one makes contact with people. This is a quite exquisite form of Meconopsis betonicifolia (or baileyi if you accept the current split). I planted these seedlings in my daughter in Cumbria's garden where meconopsis thrive. There are 4 plants and all are of this beautiful pastel pale blue. They are throwing side shoots so they should be perennial. These seeds were sent to me by Svetlana from Russia and they are a wonderful addition to my collections. 

In north Caithness I have large planting of various big blue poppies for seed. This is a varition on the tetraploid Lingholm. Blues in Meconopsis can vary from year to year and I suspect temperature is involved. In the north we have had a long cold spring and so far only two pleasantly warm days of summer!

Nothing what so ever to do with Meconopsis! Many years ago one of my daughters was working in New Zealand and as always was asked to bring me back interesting seed. It has taken all these years to grow into a tree and flower. It is the Kowhai tree. This is a native legume Sophora tetaptera - the large leaved kowhai. This genus has the reputation in the United Kingdom of not being fully hardy especially when young. It has thrived in our garden near the sea on the east coast of Scotland and the flowers up to 6 cms. long are most spectacular.

Total heartbreak. This was a double Meconopsis punicea in the garden. Not sure compared to the true species that it is anything like so attractive - I find many double forms of wild flowers in the garden a bit over flamboyant. Plagued by mice earlier now it was the turn of wood pigeons. The garden is already lush and in good growth with at least 10 species of Meconopsis as rosettes or in flower. On Thursday I did my daily rounds and found every flower, every seed pod and every bud on every single Meconopsis punicea had been eaten by wood pigeons (Columba palumbus). Nothing else was touched and there were 4 separate planting of punicea. Now there will be no seed. I did give plants away to 3 botanic gardens last year so hopefully they have not all been molested by this plague species - totally out of control in the U.K. There was poor germination this year of limited seed but I do have about 40 seedlings but it is having nothing to sow for next years plants that it so sad since it is normally biennial. The only positive thing to come out of this is JUST MAYBE they will either develop new flower buds for later in the summer or perhaps just possibly wait and flower next year.

There is a well known cross between Meconopsis punicea and the mauve M. quintuplinervia. This is my own version of it. Interesting but not sure it really has much merit!

Many Meconopsis produce albinos and this is the white form of M. horridula (probably the form M. prattii). At least a proportion of any seedlings will be white and in the medium term one can select a plant that breeds true crystaline white.

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE GOT THIS ALL WRONG!

Friends who have traveled widely in the Himalayas and indeed even took me to China to see Meconopsis, say that Meconopsis horridula was broken up by Dr. Grey-Wilson into a number of separate species. These are all quite distinct species and grow in defined locations that are very large distances apart. This is therefore a white form of the species M. prattii. Meconopsis horridula itself has a very wide distribution from west Nepal right up through Tibet and  beyond its borders to the north (it is difficult in cultivation in the U.K.). There are a number of subspecies of M. horridula described, as well as the related M. prainiana, pratti. racemosa and zhongdianensis. For any Meconopsis enthusiast there is a most excellent account with comprehensive and brilliantly photographed images in Dr. Grey-Wilson's book THE GENUS MECONOPSIS from page 238. The book was published by Kew Publishing. Royal Botanic Gardens.
 I suspect many gardeners however will refer to these plants as 'Meconopsis horridula'  as do some major seed lists like those of the Scottish Rock Garden Club. All have really horrid spines which can make seed collecting unpleasant. In the wild there are all shades of blue, pale yellow forms, purple/mauve and pink forms as well as albinos and the anthers vary between bright yellow and white/grey. The spines (very variable) on the leaves may have a purple pigment spot at the base (as does M. rudis in the garden). This like M. prattii is widely established in the U.K. Both are easy probably anywhere and like all this group of plants are usually biennial and monocarpic.