Meconopsis in Cultivation

[MarcR]

Beautiful plants,  beautiful surroundings,  excellent photography throughout!

[Margaret Thorne]

..................... I sowed also Meconopsis horridula, Meconopsis prattii and Meconopsis punicea from Holubeck.....................

It will be very interesting to see what you are able to grow from Vojtech Holubec’s Meconopsis pratti seeds. His list says they were collected at Yushu and the only place I can trace with that name is in Qinghai which is further north than the currently accepted distribution of this species. But they may occur there, in which case there is a substantial overlap with the distribution of M. racemosa. On the Meconopsis Species Gallery, I have loaded photographs of M. prattii from SE Tibet, SW Sichuan and NW Yunnan, where I have seen it on the Baimashan (first two below). The most distinct plants have red stems and are secund (all the flowers on one side of the stem) with fairly long narrow leaves in a basal rosette. The only photos I have of this species in cultivation (last three below), aren’t particularly convincing, so please take lots of photos if you do manage to grow plants.

[Margaret Thorne]

One Meconopsis grower experimented with M. punicea seed and found that it germinated better the earlier it was sown after harvesting. I have never seen any insects in the flowers, so in my experience plants have to be hand pollinated and, like many species of Meconopsis, they are not self-fertile. The pollen takes a long time to ripen and often seems to be in short supply. Cross pollinating two M. punicea plants usually results in the petals falling off, so better not to do so too soon after the flowers open!

[Leena]

It will be very interesting to see what you are able to grow from Vojtech Holubec’s Meconopsis pratti seeds. His list says they were collected at Yushu and the only place I can trace with that name is in Qinghai which is further north than the currently accepted distribution of this species. But they may occur there, in which case there is a substantial overlap with the distribution of M. racemosa. On the Meconopsis Species Gallery, I have loaded photographs of M. prattii from SE Tibet, SW Sichuan and NW Yunnan, where I have seen it on the Baimashan (first two below). The most distinct plants have red stems and are secund (all the flowers on one side of the stem) with fairly long narrow leaves in a basal rosette. The only photos I have of this species in cultivation (last three below), aren’t particularly convincing, so please take lots of photos if you do manage to grow plants.

Thank you for the pictures of M.prattii and M.punicea!
I will take pictures if I manage to grow M.prattii. Judging from your pictures it needs a well drained spot, not as moist as other Meconopsis I have grown.

About M.integrifolia: I found a picture from last summer where there are two M.integrifolia seedlings. I hope to see next summer what kind of M.integrifolia these are, and there are other seedlings in another spot. In the picture they are on the left corner, and they grew well last summer. I think I will have to dig up the Pulmonaria behind them, so that they will have more room. Picture was taken in late June of Primula 'Inverewe' which I was very happy that has survived. I got it from a friend who had bought it before Brexit.

[Margaret Thorne]

Beautiful plants,  beautiful surroundings,  excellent photography throughout!

Thanks, Marc, I do hope the photos will encourage a few more people to grow them. It seems Meconopsis aren't very fashionable at the moment!

[Margaret Thorne]

Each of the following was flowered by only a single person who part in the 2023 Census so they are allocated to category ‘D’ – endangered, most likely to be lost in the near future: M. baileyi subsp. pratensis, M. henrici, M. heterandra, M. impedita subsp. impedita, M. integrifolia subsp. integrifolia, M. regia, M. robusta, M. simplicifolia subsp. grandiflora, M. wallichii var. wallichii and M. yaoshanensis subsp. yaoshanensis. With just a bit more effort, we could probably keep all these in cultivation.
These are photos of:
M. baileyi subsp. pratensis in cultivation – they are similar to subsp. baileyi but have nodding flowers. They were introduced by Frank Kingdon Ward from northern Myanmar in 1926, so if they are lost from cultivation, it is unlikely that they will be replaced.
M. henrici from the Zheduoshan, Sichuan (thanks to Peggy Anderson)
M. heterandra, Yele Xiang, Mianning, Sichuan
M. impedita subsp. impedita, Serkhyem La, Nyingchi, SE Tibet (thanks to Harry Jans)
M. integrifolia subsp. integrifolia, Huanglongsi, Songpan, Sichuan

[arisaema]

M. henrici from the Zheduoshan, Sichuan (thanks to Peggy Anderson)

Pavel Krivka has a fresh seed introduction of this species on his latest seed list, as well as "Meconopsis jiajinshanensis", presumably M. balangensis atrata? I might order seeds and try them here in Denmark, they were easy in Norway.

What happened to M. delavayi? I was hoping for seeds, but I have yet to see it listed in any exchanges. It is in danger of dying out in cultivation? The perennial species seem more worth saving, I fear the monocarpic ones might end up being a lost cause...

[Margaret Thorne]

Pavel Krivka has a fresh seed introduction of this species on his latest seed list, as well as "Meconopsis jiajinshanensis", presumably M. balangensis atrata? I might order seeds and try them here in Denmark, they were easy in Norway.

In 2022 only 1 UK member reported flowering M. henrici, but he no longer had plants in 2023. The situation was marginally better in Norway since, although nobody who took part in the Census raised any in 2023, there were a few plants still alive from previous years. So, yes, if new seed is available, it would be well worth buying and growing.
I cannot find any reference to Meconopsis jiajinshanensis, so it could be either variety of M. balangensis. Does the seed list have a photo or description? Jiajinshan also has the Balangshan forms of plants currently lumped under M. integrifolia subsp. souliei, but which I think are distinct. So, well worth buying seed and identifying.

[Margaret Thorne]

What happened to M. delavayi? I was hoping for seeds, but I have yet to see it listed in any exchanges. It is in danger of dying out in cultivation? The perennial species seem more worth saving, I fear the monocarpic ones might end up being a lost cause...

Meconopsis delavayi has been in The Meconopsis Group seed exchange every year from 2001 until 2023. In 2022 nobody who took part in the Census flowered it and only four members raised plants from seed, so it was judged to be endangered. In 2023 more members raised plants from seed and although we received no record of it flowering in the UK, two members were successful in Norway. M. delavayi requires different growing conditions to most other species of Meconopsis in that it is a plant of limestone substrates and it dislikes root disturbance. Growers who succeed with it either plant seeds in individual modules or pot on seedlings in a clump rather than individually. It probably isn't as endangered in cultivation as some other species, but is one of the more difficult species to grow.

[Claire Cockcroft]

Years ago I grew M. delavayi from seed and the plant bloomed every year for a few years.  Then a friend helped weed the sand bed upon which the meconopsis pot sat.  And yes, she lifted the pot, exposing some lovely fat roots.  And yes, the plant perished.  I've never had seed of it since.  SIGH!
...Claire

[Margaret Thorne]

Hi Claire, good to hear from you. Why not join The Meconopsis Group and likely get seed of M. delavayi in the autumn in this year's seed exchange? You've got green fingers and seem to have the right growing conditions for Sinohimalayan plants.

[Leena]

Margaret, thanks to your pictures and posts now I joined the Meconopsis group today.
I have been thinking about joining for several years, but never got around to it. My own plants are so common that I thought I couldn't give anything, but maybe I can in the future.

[Claire Cockcroft]

Hi, Margaret,
I couldn't find how to join the meconopsis group on the website.  Can you or Leena send me a link?  Thanks.

Right now, M. zhongdianensis seems to be perennial for me.  Or consecutive seedlings are filling the pot.  :-)  M. aculeata has bloomed for me and some seedlings hang on.  I've grown several M. horridula types -- I can never be sure of the correct names.  And of course, M. baileyi hybrids are perennial if I site them correctly.
...Claire


M. zhongdianensis


M. racemosa?

[Margaret Thorne]

https://www.themecgroupadmin.org/tblnewmembersedit.asp

That should get anyone who's interested to the new members' bit

[Margaret Thorne]

Right now, M. zhongdianensis seems to be perennial for me.  Or consecutive seedlings are filling the pot.  :-)  M. aculeata has bloomed for me and some seedlings hang on.  I've grown several M. horridula types -- I can never be sure of the correct names.  And of course, M. baileyi hybrids are perennial if I site them correctly.
...Claire

It's possible to get most of the prickly species of Meconopsis to behave like perennials by potting them up and planting them out in clumps rather than individually. Some of them are definitely short lived perennials too. I planted several in a large trough which I subsequently wanted to empty to move, and 5 years later they were still flowering every year. They also self seed quite readily if you give them the conditions they like (and don't collect all the seeds!); both your garden and Leena's should be suitable for that.
There are photos on the Meconopsis Species Gallery of M. zhongdianensis, M. racemosa and M. prattii which are quite tricky to tell apart. You need to look at all the key features, not just the bit at the top - so, basal leaves (shape, form, nature of spots & bristles), orientation and spacing of the flowers up the stem, flower detail and capsule shape. You are welcome to send me more photos if you need a hand in deciding if yours are correctly identified.
Later in the year, the Meconopsis Group seed exchange will probably have M. p paniculata ex Sikkim which was collected on the Green Lake Trek by a friend of ours later the same year you travelled there with us. He bulked up the seed in his own garden, in which there are no other Mec species, before donating it, so there should be plenty left in the seed bank. Sadly, M. simplicifolia subsp. grandiflora which we also saw on that trip is only just hanging on in cultivation and is less likely to be in the seed exchange.