This is my first time visiting this site...I recently purchased from a green house in Edmonton , 2 Himalayan Blue Poppies. I owned one last year and it died without ceremony....I only noticed that it was missing long after the fact. NOw that I have 2 more....I am trying to take extra special care....I live in Ottawa...where I have read that they are a challenge to grow...I understand that they appreciate acidic soil....with cedar mulch do? I would love to hear from anyone who has experience growing these successfully ....especially in Eastern Ontario..... best regards, Evelyn
Blue Poppy Blues? Cool humid environment for poppyworts, with moist, rich soil and protection from hot winds, slugs and mites. They don't like to be pelted with droplets from high branches, either. They are cloudland meadow plants, watered and shaded by monsoons in summer, insulated by deep snows in winter. If your one plant grew through summer and then collapsed, perhaps you need to do something extra to be sure to get all of them through winter. If you get a first-year seedling to throw up a flower spike, cut it off or remove the spent flowers early enough to prevent seed capsules from developing very far. Otherwise, it may expend itself in this initial effort and not form overwintering leaf rosettes (crowns).
I bought my first blue poppy in May, 2004 as a blooming plant. I planted it on the east side of the house in a sheltered location. A nursery employee told me the blue poppies don't like the crown to get wet over the winter and suggested that when the cold & wet weather came to put slug bait around it and cover it with a large clay pot. She said it should be a clay pot so it wouldn't fly away in the wind. I did as she suggested and was rewarded this year with TWO stalks and several beautiful blooms.
If this is Meconopsis betonicifolia and this specimen has not flowered before, itis should be deadheaded (prevented from forming fruits) so it will form side rosettes and become perennial. Otherwise, it is likely to be monocarpic (dying after flowering once).
I bought two bulbs which came in peat moss with no growth just showing. I live in Philadelphia, zone 4, my soil is acidic. I want to know how deep to plant them and how much shade they should have to protect them from summer sun. This is not my first try. George Johnson
B[/COLOR Blue Poppies 2 years ago we had beautiful blooms from our Blue Poppies from Recluse Farms in Palmer AK, but this year they died over the winter. Not wanting a repeat of this I tried every source to find out what went wrong because Sandra, our Alaska daughter sent her father 10 new babies this year. In my research my husband mentioned to a nursery in our area that he had clipped them back in the fall. He was told that clipping them back in the fall was what caused the proplem. We live on Whidbey Island where the weather is cool & should work for them. We are expermenting by trying them out in different areas. We added a lot of compost to the garden that has mostly clay soil & where we have had good success with rhododendron's and also along a shadded row by azaleas since they use the same type of food. I would like to hear of other experiences with the different varieties of Blue Poppies. Thank you, Joanne Davis
I like the Idea of using the clay pot to shelter them & I will try that. I also know that they sunburn very easily. We had to move the one in a cool area but had too much afternoon sun. I find them to be so lovely. I visited the farms in Palmer Ak. where they had both the blue & the purple. I have seen pictures of red & white but have no idea where to purchase them. Sincerely, Joanne Davis