Friday, May 28, 2010



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Meconopsis species (betonicifolia, grandis, baileyi) (Himalayan Blue poppies) are rather striking plants that we can grow in southeast and in parts of the interior of Alaska that gardeners living in areas with warmer summers can find challenging. I'm being a bit cagey about which one I happen to have in my garden. I'm fairly certain that it is grandis, but the tag is long gone.

The commonly cultivated blue poppies are native to the Himalyas (Tibet and western China) and are more easily cultivated in moist, cool areas. My garden is at times a bit too sunny and warm for these plants, or maybe more accurately too dry. I"m slowly moving them to shadier presumably moister parts of the garden.

I found a very helpful web site Meconopsis Group with good information about cultivation, varieties and the history of introduction of the plants to western gardens.

1 comment:

  1. What a great image of a beautiful flower! I posted, several days ago, about seeing the blue poppies while touring Homer gardens. How lucky you are to be able to have these beauties in your garden!
    I found your blog through another Alaska blog.Happy gardening and happy blogging!

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