Meconopsis punicea

[robsorchids]

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After having great success (finaly thanks to susan) with these wonderfull plants i would love to try M.punicea, the flowers are just gorgeous, however i dont know of any suppliers, or how difficult it is to grow compared to the more associated blue species?

sheldonii 'lingholm' flowered well here, as quintuplinerva has done well too

rob

[Brian Ellis]

I think the key to success, Rob, is probably very fresh seed.  I have yet to get it to germinate here in the East of England and that is probably why

[johnw]

Rob - Fresh M. punicea seed seems to be as rare as some snowdrops. I've never had a single one germinate from the exchanges.  I'll let you and Brian know if I find some, hope I am not too late.

johnw

[gote]

It is indeed monocarpic. However it is rumoured that a perennial variety is growing somewhere.
I have been able to grow it from the meconopsis group seed exchange - but not many.
I give it the same treatment as quintuplinervia. It is not a great success but the colour is unique.
I might have a few fresh seeds very soon. Give me your address privately  I MIGHT get some surplus.
Göte

[Rodger Whitlock]

i suppose when plants are monocarpic is makes them so the more difficult to find, especialy when that plant is difficult to raise from seed!
i suppose the easiest method would be to find young seed grown plants.
the perrenial variety sounds wonderfull, hopefully that will one day become available!

But the perennial variety poses another problem: it is likely to become more and more virused and weak over the years and then disappear totally.

Tissue culture has saved any number of old, weak plants with high virus titers, but it can't be guaranteed to work - and you still have the problem of having only one clone in cultivation.

Years ago, I read an interesting comment somewhere: that when you take seeds collected in the wild and sow them, you are already, in that first generation, exerting strong selection pressures for plants that are happy in gardens. It seems to me the moral is that we should grow as many plants from seed as possible, because with each succeeding generation the progeny will become easier to grow.

Of course, this too poses risks, particularly of hybridisation, but also of gradual displacement of "wild forms" by forms selected for brighter, bigger flowers and other desirable characteristics. You simply can't win but at least you can go down with a struggle!

In another thread, I commented on someone's picture of Cosmos atrosanguinea. Apparently all plants in cultivation are a single clone and at one time it was believed to be extinct in the wild. However, within the last few years an expedition to Mexico from a California botanic garden found it and collected seed. But where has that seed gone? Where can I get a plant of a different clone to cross-pollinate my own sterile specimen with? A classic example of the risks posed by raising "perennial forms".

Postscript: There is a famous strain of garden delphiniums named after various chivalric archetypes. (I forget the strain's name, but I'm sure most of us know what I mean.) The management of this strain was described in detail in the old Penguin-RHS handbook on delphiniums: one year, seedlings would be raised; the next year, vegetative propagation would be used; and so on, alternating between seed and vegetative propagation.

The idea was to keep the individual cultivars comprising the strain up to snuff both with regard to seed production (and thus health) and perenniality. If my recollections of this account are sound, the comment was also made that once this strain was taken over by some corporate interest, they dropped the vegetative stage as being too costly, but in the process to a large degree sacrificed the perennial habit.

For us rock gardeners, seed production even of plants easily propagated by cuttings or division is important because of the gradual tightening of restrictions on international trade in plants. Canadians can no longer import plants from any nursery in Britain because the potato cyst nematode is ubiquitous there and no nurseryman is prepared to pay for the exhaustive examination of his soil that phytosanitary regulations require. Thus seed is the only legal way to go. I'm looking very hard at a few small teucrium species: T. aroanum, T. marum, T. subspinosum; in the hopes of finding viable seed but so far things don't look promising. But I'll keep trying.

[ichristie]

Hi all, very interesting discussion about Meconopsis punicea, firstly the seed set here this year has been very poor the wet weather has rotted most of the seed pods. I would also like to inform you that i have a plant collected from a wild source in 2003 which has been perennial since then it send out runners like M. quintuplinervia but not so many, it was suggested by the powers that be it is a hybrid well it sets seed and we have some very good seedlings. We must wait until next year to see if these will be perennial as well, the flower colour is not such a striking red but quite a few flowers have 8 petals instead of 4 I showed this to Joint rock at Aberdeen this year so here is a picture,   cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[Brian Ellis]

Green with envy Ian

[gote]

Rodger, Also a perennial punicea can be expected to set seed.
Ian, I did not want to say who had it to avoid causing too large crowds clamoring at your doors
Cheers
Göte

[ichristie]

Hi again, i have divided my perrrenial M. punicea several times and given away quite a few rossettes to good growers so I hope this plant will get passed around a wider group eventually. I always add some new compost to the next set of young plants I put in the garden this seems to keep them strong setting more little runners. I do agree that if we left the plants in one area for a long time they would die out but this is so with several other plants and why we are  all passionate about keeping these treasures alive,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[tetsuo]

Hello.
I post some photos of M.punicea flowered in my garden in Sapporo. The form of Flora Plena is not stable.

[olegKon]

Fantastic pictures and stunning plants, Tetsuo.
Welcome to the forum

[Brian Ellis]

My very favourite plant Tetsuo.  Welcome to the forum and thank you for the great pictures.

[johnw]

Tetsuo

I agree with Brian - the Holy Grail it is.

Wonderful picturess and thanks.

johnw

[Carlo]

Tetsuo,
I'll join the others in a hearty well-done. Even if the 'flora plena' form is unstable, it must be a thrill to have it pop up from time to time. Absolutely gorgeous...

[ichristie]

Hi again Tetsuo, very interesting picture with these full double flowers, I have raised a few like this only once but we do have a M. punicea perennial form from Stone mountain in China which produces some flowers with 8 petals,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.