Last summer I became extremely agitated during the protracted wait for the blooming of our Nepal Poppy, Meconopsis napaulensis; “will she?”, “wont she?”, “what colour will she be”, “will bambi/slug/snail/hippo take a liking to the burgeoning flower spike” and “if she is going to I wish she would get a move on I’m beginning to lose interest”. I was hoping for pink but she turned out yellow (I loved her anyway) and was as spectacular as I had imagined. This year, thanks to a very generous gift by Mr Marwood, we have six plants. Can you imagine the anticipation before these furry little beauties’ coming out party. It may well get messy.
Tag Archives: Meconopsis napaulensis
Pots of Potential
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Meconopsis napaulensis – Himalayan Poppy
This Meconopsis napaulensis is one of our new plants, in fact it is the plant we won last weekend by being particularly swotty and winning the Plant Heritage quiz. Many meconopsis, including this one, are both a blessing and a curse. They have seductively furry leaf rosettes, eminently strokable and a joy in their own right. This little rosette of hairy leaves, when the mood takes it, produces a flower spike that can grow to 6ft tall with multiple heads of pink or red or even white flowers. These flowers are sublimely beautiful and when their blooming is over the plant dies, end of story, end of plant that has been nurtured and loved. Of course the seed should be collected and the cycle repeated but I have found germination tricky. I have never seen this particular species in bloom, we had a similar Meconoposis paniculata Ginger Form a couple of years ago which was known as The Hamster, but the flowers were quite an anticlimax. I should imagine this poppy’s flowers will be quite a spectacle and I hope we manage to coax it to its magnificent swan song.
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ontheedgegardening 