Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Meconopsis => Topic started by: Luc Gilgemyn on May 15, 2008, 11:01:20 AM
-
I'd love to see some Meco's posted !
We can hardly grow them down here so please Northern forumists - post along - I'm sure you're growing thousands of them !!!!! ;D
Thanks ;)
-
Luc, Is this enough Mecs. for you. All are Mec. X Lingholme growing for seed, some have huge flowers.
Also growing well alongside them are Primula seiboldii with an amazing range of colours and Primula pulverulenta
Susan
-
Brilliant Susan ! What a view ! You're trying to match Luit's tulipfields ! ;D
And then... we try to grow just one ... only to watch it dwindle... and finally disappear for whatever reason... to wet... to dry... to warm... ::)
Thanks anyway for letting us taste !
-
What an amazing sight Susan. I'll bet all your neighbours just LOVE you. :D
How do you sell all these? Are they just lifted from the ground then wrapped?
-
Lesley,
All the mecs and primulas are grown for seed, I collect it and send it to a German seed company (Jellittos, am I alowed to plug them?). Steve Newal in New Zealand also does this, do you know him?
Its great over at the field, there are no neighbours ;D just the birds. ( also plenty unwanted wild life (rabbits, mice, deer etc.)
Susan
-
Luc, Is this enough Mecs. for you. All are Mec. X Lingholme growing for seed, some have huge flowers.
Also growing well alongside them are Primula seiboldii with an amazing range of colours and Primula pulverulenta
Susan
Oooooooooohh
I think Georg will be very happy with such deliverer.
-
Ah, that explains it then. I should have guessed. Yes, I know Steve very well. He grows heaps of stuff himself and Hokonui Alpines south of me do things too, Mec. punicea etc. I was offered seed as well but I haven't a reliable water supply so can't do that unfortunately.
-
Incredible display of Lingholm seedlings Susan.
There is a garden 10 hours north of here in the Gaspé of Québec called Jardins de Métis (pronounced may-teese). It was started many years ago by Elsie Reford and taken over by the Quebec government awhile back. I'm told there is a field of 30,000 M. betonicifolia, I believe from Scottish seed. The Meconopsis is the symbol of the garden - very disappointed to see no pictures of them on their website - www.jardinsmetis.com.
Can anyone recommend a source of fresh M. punicea seed? I saw them in bloom in Tromso and will never forget them.
johnw
-
If you can't find anything closer to home John, I may be able to get some for you around Christmas time or a bit later. Mine are all seedlings this year but friends down the road (mentioned above) grow it by the hundreds, seed for Jellito's.
-
John,
If mec. bet grows well you should not have a problem with punicea. I don't think I have any flowering this year for seed, as they are monocarpic you have to keep on top of them for a continuous supply, worth it though. I have plenty of seedlings for next year. Old seed germinates okay but takes a year, unlike most other mecs new seed of punicea is best sown in the autumn for spring germination.
Lesley,
I think most things I grow for Jelittos the New Zealanders also grow, If there is a crop failure in one country hopefully there will be seed from the other thus ensuring continuous supply.
Luc,
It is the heat that is most damaging for mecs, not a lot you can do about it, a shade tunnel will help (tunnel not covered in polythene only 50 or 60% shade net).
Susan
-
If you can't find anything closer to home John, I may be able to get some for you around Christmas time or a bit later. Mine are all seedlings this year but friends down the road (mentioned above) grow it by the hundreds, seed for Jellito's.
Leslie - That would be wonderful and the timing perfect to get them going for planting out in the early spring here.
thanks
johnw
-
It's really hard to suggest how long the little Mec. punicea would take to be ready John. I sow the fresh seed in December and it NEVER germinates until early spring the following year, usually, regardless of weather through the autumn and winter, on or close to August 8th. Yes, really. I've had it start on the 9th and 10th as well but mostly, it starts on the 8th, so 8 months from sowing to germination. Then I prick them out into small pots when very small, less than a centimetre across and they grow on quickly in my shady tunnel.
-
Lesley,
I have never noted exactly the date on which it germinates, I think I will do that if I remember and see if it is exactly opposite you dates. That would make it Feb 8th, sounds about right.
Susan
-
Rob,
you should at least be seeing the bud within the leaves, maybe it wasn't a piece with a flower bud. You will have to keep it alive til next year :D
Susan
-
A visit to Branklyn Gardens yesterday coincided with the flowering of the Meconopsis. The NTFS seem to be making an effort to collect all the named varieties and, in a new bed, there were new collected varieties from recent seed collecting expeditions, although these were not yet in flower. I did not manage to see all the names as the plants were too closely planted.
-
continued
-
Tom,
Thank you for the wonderful pictures - especially liked the M. nepalensis. Will you be able to visit again when the new plants flower?
-
Thank you Tom !
Marvelous show ! :o
The picture of the Mec. group and its neighbours is absolutely beautiful !
Thanks again
-
I'm not sure who Michael is. so, on the assumption that the query refers to my postings, the answer is hopefully yes. However, the new plantings are too immature to flower this year
-
Thanks for posting these pics TC, I am very hacked off that I'm offshore for the meconopsis season - keep them coming.
On the day I left my first one came in to flower - by the time I get home in 3 weeks they'll probably all be past.
-
Tom;
Great pictures! If you go back later, could you please take a shot of the seed pods on Meconopis forrestii?
M. lancifolia below, it's been in flower since May 15th and still have plenty of buds left.
-
Thanks for the post arisaema, that is a beautiful mec.
Is this one perennial too?
-
Ian: It's biennial I'm afraid, but certainly worth the trouble :)
-
These are probably the last Meconopsis pictures of the season taken at Dawyck gardens yesterday. Even here, the petals were starting to fall. It's a pity these beautiful flowers are in bloom for such a short time.
-
That is a beautiful form Tom and stunning in a group.
Not sure that I agree entirely about "a pity these beautiful flowers are in bloom for such a short time." They are glorious of course but they live well in the memory and they are there to look forward to, next time. There's always something else to fill the spot and every kind of plant has its due season. But I do know what you mean. The end of something so lovely is always a little sad.
-
Wonderful shots Tom ! Great flowers aren't they ?
Thanks for showing !
-
OMG!!!! :o These pics are so stunning. Susan, your seed production line is fantastic, Tom those different coloured varieties are amazing... and those last shots.... <sigh!> ::)
Despite a few tries with both plants and seeds I still haven't managed to grow any as yet. The seed germinates fine then dies off for reasons I am not yet able to ascertain. I think that next time I get seed I'll just sprinkle it out in a shady piece of the garden and hope it grows without any intervention from me, because obviously whatever I'm doing isn't right! ;)
So for now I am most pleased to be able to enjoy the wonderful Mec pics here and dream!!! ;D Thanks everyone.
-
Meconopsis in my garden this week:
Meconopsis x Marit
(http://magnar.aspaker.no/Meconopsis%20x%20Marit%2008.jpg)
(http://magnar.aspaker.no/Meconopsis%20x%20Marit%20108.jpg)
M, quintuplinervia
(http://magnar.aspaker.no/Meconopsis%20quintuplinervia%2008.jpg)
M. x cookei Old Rose
(http://magnar.aspaker.no/Meconopsis%20x%20cookei%20Old%20Rose%2008.jpg)
-
Beautiful, Magnar. I particularly like that white.
-
I agree, paul!
I am interested to see that the plant of Meconopsis 'Marit' looks to be a good robust sort.... some whites can be rather weak and this does not seem to bethe case here 8)
-
I got 2 plants of "Marit" from Tromsø last summer. It's the first time they flower for me. Both has been growing very well and seem to be good plants. I even know the lady in Tromsø who the plant is named after :)
-
I even know the lady in Tromsø who the plant is named after :)
That makes the plant even more special when it has the name of a friend, doesn't it? 8)
-
I'm hoping my plants of M. quintuplinervia will flower later this year. If so, I'll cross pollinate them with M. punicea and vice versa, in the hope of some hybrids along the lines of M x Cookei. If I succeed, can I call them by that name or should they be called something else? What I mean is, is a particular cross when repeated later in a different time and place, still the same name as the original, seeing that the seedlings are a grex anyway. Obviously none could be called 'Old Rose' which I assume was a selection from the grex.
-
Lesley,
Traditionally any cross which has been given a name holds that name no matter how many times/places it is made. With Australian Dendrobium orchids there is a cross called 'Bardo Rose' (I think that's the right name anyway) which has such a wide scope for flowers that it is almost unbelievable that they are all the same "cross". With them, the best named form of one species is crossed with the best named form of the other species (or some particularly desirable traits in each species anyway) and the results are all 'Bardo Rose' despite being so widely variable.
So.... if the x Cookei is the registered name of that species cross then it should apply to your seedlings. My understanding is that it "should" apply both directions as well, not with a specific species as the pod parent etc. Any of the older crosses in some genus are being re-tried nowadays as the older plants have been lost over time. Also, newer and better versions of each species now exist that can be used to change teh quality of the results. It certainly is making it harder to tell at times what something is without a label! ::) ;D
Good luck!! 8)
-
Hi Paul and thanks. I'll go with that, until someone tells me something different. However, I'm counting as yet unhatched chickens.
-
Lesley,
Yeah, but if you can't visualise the chickens then you don't even bother trying to hatch them in the first place. Always worthwhile giving it a go and seeing whether it works or not. If it doesn't, no harm done, but if it does then you have fun watching the results. All good!! 8)
-
A few late flowering meconopsis from Logan Gardens yeserday
Mec. beamishii
Mec. paniculata
mec. nepaulensis
-
I never realised there was a white Meconopsis - very attractive
-
Tom,
Wow! I've never seen big branching Mecs like that! To be honest I have only ever seen one or two actual Meconopsis in person, as they're very uncommong here, but I wouldn't have realised that yellow one was that genus!! I like it!!!!!! :) Love the white, and the colour of the last one too. 8)
-
Meconopsis delavaiy opening the two first flowers today :)
Blue, dwarf, and true perennial
(http://magnar.aspaker.no/Meconoopsis%20delavayi%2008.jpg)
-
A true perennial blue one? Maybe it would actually grow more easily here then? Wow! :o
-
Paul, unfortunately the tall branching mecs are monocarpic, mostly biennial I would say. Beautiful rosette the first year, tall floral stem the next followed by masses of seed (hopefully), followed by death. In the Dunedin Botanic Gardens they self seed down and have made permanent colonies flowering each year but the individuals die after flowering. Glorious while they last though.
-
Magnar,
Superb M. delavayi ... is that a good representation of the colour of the flowers as my plants are distinctly purple? Pictures posted previously.
The link to pictures of my M. delavayi connects to the old forum...
http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/36/34.html?1163424365
-
I have 4 plants and they all have blue flowers like in the photo. I have never seen a purple one like yours.
-
Lovely Cliff. I like your purple as well as Magnar's blue. Beautiful!
-
The delavayi I saw in China in the Gang Ho Ba - near Lijiang - were purple. If I find my slides I will try to post a picture.
-
Here are some mec from the botanical garden in Oslo blooming around 7 of June so I did not start a new topic just by me being slow in posting.
Thy wee tall say 40-60 cm but they al had a bit dirty colour if You get what I mean.
Sorry for the darker picture being a bit fuzzy but it was windy so I did not manage better.
Kind regards
Joakim