Meconopsis baileyi

HIMALAYAN

BLUE POPPY

Meconopsis baileyi
HIMALAYAN BLUE POPPY

Meconopsis baileyi is the legendary Himalayan Blue Poppy.
Once seen in bloom, never forgotten, and always lusted after. Besotted gardeners will walk over cut glass to have Himalayan Blue Poppies blooming in their garden.

Flocks of spectacular poppies in all shades of blue

Meconopsis baileyi bears flocks of large, spectacular poppies in all shades of kingfisher blue.
The silky petals are so fine they are almost translucent, and breathtakingly beautiful as they flutter in the breeze in spring & summer.
Blue-grey leaves perfectly complement the blues of the flowers.

Treasures for the shade

Meconopsis baileyi enjoys a sheltered, shaded, cool spot in the garden or in a pot.
And they love humus rich, damp, well drained neutral to acid soil.
The secret is to find a place where you can keep the humidity in the air up – so a shade house or fernery area is perfect.
The more acid your soil the more intensely blue the flowers will be. While in alkaline soil the flowers will tinge with purple (just like blue Hydrangeas).

Once you have your treasures happily settled into the right spot, they will self seed for you to form colonies of breath-taking flowers on stately spires.
And then you take photographs from every angle, open a Facebook account, and brag unmercifully.

Even though they are only a short lived perennial it does not matter – they are worth everything just to see Himalayan Blue Poppy flowers in the flesh.

75-90cm. High slender stems of flowers x 30cm. Wide flat rosette of furry blue-grey foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: Meconopsis baileyi

Meconopsis seeds can be sown at any time in good quality seed raising mix, whenever suitable temperatures can be provided.

Cover seeds thinly with river sand or sieved seed raising mix.
Then moisten the sown punnet well by standing it in a water bath so the moisture percolates all the way through to the surface from the bottom.

Now place the sown, moist punnet in a cool spot.
No artificial heat is needed as this can cause rapid germination and fungal attack, or make seed go into a deeper dormancy.
Temperatures of around 12-15C are ideal. They do not mind cold night temperatures.

Seedlings usually appear within 3 to 6 weeks but some can take much longer.
But this is a normal process in nature to stagger germination, to ensure some seeds will germinate into a variety of conditions. So do be patient and do not discard the punnet.

If the seeds are shy to germinate – then wrap the moist, sown punnet in cling-wrap, and place in the fridge (not freezer) for 4-6 weeks.
This mimics a nice cold winter, and promotes germination when they are brought out to the cool place again.

When the seedlings have a set of true leaves, pot on into small pots and protect from hot sun.

Then plant out in a shaded, moist humus rich slightly acid soil.
It is natural for some Meconopsis plants to be herbaceous and die down to a large resting bud.

Seed Count: 25 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count, and give a generous serve).

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