Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Specific Families and Genera => Meconopsis => Topic started by: TC on May 21, 2007, 12:53:11 PM

Title: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 21, 2007, 12:53:11 PM
I was going to post some pictures of Meconopsis on the site when I got a message in red suggesting I should open a new thread, so, here goes.
 From baby-sitting duties in Edinburgh,we popped in to Dawyck on our way back.  They have two large beds of Meconopsis but the main flowering date is probably 10 days away.  However, we did manage to find two or three flowers that had just opened.  I think the raindrops add something to the pictures.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Ian Minty on May 21, 2007, 03:58:01 PM
Thanks for the pics TC.
Meconopsis are one of my favourite flowers.
Mine were budding up nicely last week and some were about a week away from opening when I had to go offshore for 3-4 weeks.
So I'm hoping for cooler weather at home so that there are some blooms left by the time that I get home.
Keep them coming.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: David Nicholson on May 21, 2007, 07:41:55 PM
I sowed some Meconopsis 'Lingholme' seed that Stuart Pawley kindly sent me and noticed, whilst looking in my seed frame today, that I have had good germination. The challenge will be, in my dry Devon garden, to get them to planting out size and hopefully eventually to flower.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 21, 2007, 08:27:52 PM
My problem with meconopsis is twofold.  I can usually get good germination but it is the nursing of the small plants through the winter that is a big worry.  Only about 1% make it.  When they do flower, the wind usually shreds them.
I came back from a trip today and had a look at one of my two surviving plants.  This is hidden in the shelter of a fence and underneath a Loderi rhododendron. The top flower has gone and I have to perform a limbo dance to see the others !
The other plant - probably betonicifolia - has had a few leaves snapped off by the wind, but the flower stalk, with buds, is still intact. Meanwhile, my seedlings are like mustard and cress.  There's always next year.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: David Nicholson on May 21, 2007, 08:39:19 PM
The gardener's prayer Tom, 'there's always next year'
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Maggi Young on May 21, 2007, 09:02:31 PM
Here is the  stem of Mec. that Susan B. sent me, via Fermi, on Friday... it still looks good... who knew that meconopsis made a good cut flower?!!
[attachthumb=1]
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on May 21, 2007, 11:41:20 PM
I have a very large batch of `Lingholm' seedlings, the seed from the Logan Botanic Garden, so should be true. They germinated like the proverbial, and I potted up 80 into small planter bags. That was back in November. They are already dying down for the winter but have quite thick knobs at ground level of very dark brown fur and I think will come through the winter well, if I don't let them dry out (they're in my shady tunnel which in theory the rain gets through (knitted cloth) but the sheltering trees are so think now that it doesn't.)They should be ready to plant out in August just as they're coming into visible growth again.

Here, too dry while young is the main loss cause but when they're older the wind attacks as well. I find the plants can stand dry conditions well if they've had time to get their roots well down first. This applies to perennial forms of course, not the monocarpics which are going to die after flowering/seeding anyway.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 22, 2007, 08:41:26 PM
Some more Meconopsis in bulk
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Maggi Young on May 22, 2007, 09:08:42 PM
Lovely, true blues, you have captured here, Tom.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on May 23, 2007, 01:48:44 AM
Surely NOTHING is more glorious than Meconopsis "in bulk" as Tom puts it.The sky come down to earth.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 26, 2007, 10:55:32 PM
We popped into Branklyn after an expensive visit to Potfest at Perth on Friday.  Cindy has bought so many pots and ceramics over the years that we could open our own gallery.  I digress, after an initial downpour, we got round the garden in sunshine.  Although the rhododendrons were mainly over, other plants were coming through.  The show of Meconopsis was impressive, but, as usual I could not find many labels.  My favourite was meconopsis forrestii.  It looks sturdy enough to stand strong winds unlike its larger cousins.  Mec. cookei was a new one to me and looked like a crushed piece of silk on a stem.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Ian Minty on May 27, 2007, 06:30:45 AM
Thanks for posting again Tom, Irene was telling me on the phone that two of my mecs are looking really good at home last night and the rest are just coming along nicely and they should be flowering by the time that I get home. I'll post some pics as soon as I can once I get some shore leave.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on May 27, 2007, 10:34:05 PM
Not sure that I like that version of Mec. x Cookei. I'm in favour of the gorgeous reds on the cover of the January Journal. The M. forrestii looks as if it may be related to M. horridula, from the little seen in the pic? In which case it would be quite sturdy but probably monocarpic. I don't know the name.

To me, and from way back, the name Branklyn is synonymous with meconopsis.

And Tom, to begin with, I almost thought you and Cindy had been to a sort of "love in" affair, with the green stuff a part of the festivities. Potfest indeed ;D
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 28, 2007, 02:25:10 PM
Lesley
Not sure that I like that version of Mec. x Cookei. I'm in favour of the gorgeous reds on the cover of the January Journal. The M. forrestii looks as if it may be related to M. horridula, from the little seen in the pic? In which case it would be quite sturdy but probably monocarpic. I don't know the name.

To me, and from way back, the name Branklyn is synonymous with meconopsis.

And Tom, to begin with, I almost thought you and Cindy had been to a sort of "love in" affair, with the green stuff a part of the festivities. Potfest indeed ;D

The Mec. cookei looks better in real life.  In the sunshine it took on a metalic hue of bronze and pink.  I asked the gardener where she had got it from and she said it was fom her friend Evelyn.  It was not until later that I associated this with Evelyn Stevens of the Meconopsis group
I liked the forrestii because of the deep blue contrasting with the white stamens and the fact that it looked sturdy enough to survive in a windy situation for more than a few days without snapping off.
I'm afraid that after 43 years of marriage, love ins are a distant memory!  We were both folkies in the 1950's and 1960's and the thought of camping in a wet windy cold field for a concert appalls me.  However, last night there was a concert featuring Marti Pellow, Karen Matheson and Phil Cunningham in Ayr racecourse to celebrate the end of the Burns an' a' that festival   All we did was to open the window slightly and we could hear the concert from the comfort of our own house. Cindy and I must be some of the few who never tried the weed.  Probably because I could not stand smoking in any form.
However, hope springs eternal.  I have decided to take up the guitar again, so much so, that I am having one made to my specifications by a luthier in Glasgow from some choice wood I have been saving for 47 years.  It will probably end up as an heirloom for my grandchildren.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on May 28, 2007, 11:12:27 PM
That sounds wonderful Tom. As a child I learned to play the violin on a very fine instument which my grandfather had made. Fortunately - for it - it went to a much better player than I was ever going to be. But now, I regret that I didn't carry on, with piano at least.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Ian Y on May 29, 2007, 06:49:00 PM
Tom  I hope you will keep us posted with the building of the guitar, as a bit of an addict I have six guitars three acoustic and three electric oh and tree banjos not counting the one hidden in the loft.
In case you were all thinking it is a bit silent from Maggi she has been in bed with a throat infection, a bad cold and some kind of eye infection that has caused her eyes to go all red and sore.
I think she is coming out in sympathy with Lily whose eye on the other hand is recovering well now.
What ever it is it is not wise for her to sit in front of a PC screen.
Normal service will be resumed from her as soon as possible.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Mick McLoughlin on May 29, 2007, 06:52:46 PM
Tell Maggi we wish her all the best and a speedy recovery.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Carol Shaw on May 29, 2007, 07:35:55 PM
Ian - wish Maggi well for us and tell her whatever the bug is it came from Aberdeen Show as we both got it too! See you at Gardening Scotland!
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on May 29, 2007, 09:06:36 PM
Best wishes from all down here too Maggi, (when you're well enough to read here again). We all hope you'll recover very soon.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on May 30, 2007, 12:02:45 AM
Tom  I hope you will keep us posted with the building of the guitar, as a bit of an addict I have six guitars three acoustic and three electric oh and tree banjos not counting the one hidden in the loft.
In case you were all thinking it is a bit silent from Maggi she has been in bed with a throat infection, a bad cold and some kind of eye infection that has caused her eyes to go all red and sore.
I think she is coming out in sympathy with Lily whose eye on the other hand is recovering well now.
What ever it is it is not wise for her to sit in front of a PC screen.
Normal service will be resumed from her as soon as possible.
Whatever Maggi's got there is a lot of it about.  The trouble with throat infections is that they often don't stay there.  The infection has a habit of travelling round the throat and nasal passages but usually clear up in about 7 days although it is miserable until it's over.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Tell her Cindy and I were at Logan gardens today sniffing the Edgeworthii, lindleyi and maddenii rhodies. on her behalf
Talking about guitars, I have three acoustics and one 5 string banjo.
The guitars are one Martin 000-18 purchased in 1960.
One Sigma Martin DR-28 circa 1972
One Raimundo classical guitar circa 1978
After saving wood to make a guitar myself, I finally decided to give the wood to Jimmy Moon in Glasgow to make one for me.
We have planned it as a near copy of a Martin 00 model as refined by Collins, depending on how the wood shapes out.
The back and sides are made of pernambuco -a virtually unobtainable deep red tonewood which I have had for 36 years.
Bindings, end strip and rosette of tortoiseshell. Mother of pearl dots on the fingerboard of Gabon Ebony   A master grade German spruce top, ebony pyramid bridge with bone saddle and a bone nut. Neck will be slotted Honduras mahogany with 12 frets to the body , 1 7/8" at the nut and a scale length of 25.6"with light gauge strings. .  Machine heads by Schaller gold with black buttons.  Hopefully ready in early October.
The banjo I have was made by the Ode co. in Boulder Colorado bought and imported by me in 1961 and is the Pete Seeger long neck model.  I couldn't get one in the U.K. at that time.
For a short time, I used to sing and play in the folk song club in Montrose St. in Glasgow until I heard a recording of my voice on a tape recorder.  From then on public performances ceased !!  I can remember regular artists were Matt McGinn, the Corries, Archie Fisher and later, Billy Connolly, Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger and a regular succession of American artists likeTom Paxton and some blues guitarists and singers.  Sorry for boring non interested parties but I can easily get wound up on the subject of Folk music, guitars and blues and ragtime guitarists.  It's goodnight from him.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Ian Y on May 30, 2007, 09:59:34 AM
Thanks for all the guitar info Tom, we share a lot of interests.
I first played the Folk Club in Aberdeen around 1964/5 and then Maggi and I were in many groups through the 60's and 70's. My Grannie bought me my first banjo for passing my highers in 1967 - it was a second hand Clifford Essex with a regular neck. My other banjos are both about 100 years old. I just bought one of them on ebay a month ago it is fretless something I have longed for since the 1960's when I firts heard the music of Frank Profit and Hobart Smith.
The acustic guitars are a WASHBURN R306 (1998)
EC-, gloss natural finish, 0-size, X-braced solid cedar top, 13-5/8" lower bout, 24.9" scale, 1-7/8" nut width, 3-1/2" to 4-1/4" body depth, rosewood sides and back, 12-fret mahogany neck, slotted headstock, rosewood peghead overlay with fancy inlays, white-bound body body, fretboard and headstock, herringbone top trim and soundhole rosette, 18-fret rosewood fretboard with fancy inlays, fancy rosewood "fan" bridge, chrome Schaller tuners with white pearloid buttons, basically a Reissue of an 1890's Washburn. Sounds similar to the one you have comisioned.
A modern Takamine with a heavenly tone and a Dobro crome body reosnator guitar.
The electrics are two Fender Strats and a Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro.
To keep on topic the only Meconopsis we have out just now is some Betonicifolia 8)
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Anthony Darby on May 31, 2007, 12:03:46 AM
I bought three Meconopsis horridula from the wee nursery on the way to Crieff. I didnae ken they would disappear into the soil and thought they were dead. :-[ Just as well I didn't have other plans for the site. ::) All three are doing well and the first flower opened today.
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on May 31, 2007, 08:46:45 AM
It's a real stunner Anthony !
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Susan Band on May 31, 2007, 08:49:21 AM
After last summer most were dead :(
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: TC on June 01, 2007, 05:19:17 PM
I was trying to file umpteen magazines when I came across the January issue of " The Rock Garden".  For my sins, I had never read it or even remember seeing it.  Inside is an article on Meconopsis x Cookei written by our current President Ian Christie.  My apologies for this oversight Ian.    As to my remark that I didnae ken it , well I ken noo !!!!
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Paul T on August 07, 2007, 12:26:44 PM
I was just catching up with this thread and was fine until I came across the "Meconopsis in bulk" comment.  About then I suddenly couldn't see anything for this green blaze of envy!! <sigh>  I don't think I am meant to grow these little blue treasures...... enough losses should give me the hint, then a generous sending from Tasmania being held up in the mail (which pretty much NEVER happens) and suffering badly should have pushed the issue firmly.  I still know I'll try them yet again next time I get the chance.  I'm guessing that my seedlings from Lesley a couple of years back suffered from not being moist enough when young, as she mentioned.  Maybe they're another candidate for my 6m x 10m bog garden!! (see references in the Easy Primula thread if you're wondering when I got a bog garden!  ;D)  At the rate I am thinking of things to put into it the 4 x 6m that Rob suggested would never be big enough.  And to have a "bulk" of blue mecs I'd be willing to sacrifice a few things.

Wonderful pics everyone.  At least way I can enjoy them from afar!!  Such glorious colours!!  An absolute joy, even if only on the computer screen and not out in my garden where they SHOULD be!!  ::)
Title: Re: Meconopsis now
Post by: Lesley Cox on August 07, 2007, 10:32:41 PM
It's not Meconopsis time here in the far south, everything firmly underground at present but yesterday (7th) there were 20 new tiny seedlings up of M. punicea from a December sowing of my own seed. They're amazingly consistent. In 02, 05 and 06, they started to germinate on August 8th. I didn't sow any in 03 or 04.
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