Far Reaches Farm Part Two; Feeling a Little Blue?

 In yesterday's post, I reveled in the many fine examples of Podophyllum, one of my favorite groups of plants, at Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend. Today, we'll look at blue poppies in bloom. Of the blue flowered meconopsis, Dan Hinkley wrote, "There is nothing quite like the scene when these are in full blossom, like a flock of turquoise macaws sweeping into the garden , bringing with them pieces of the sky itself to place amongst the greenery. "


Having had these in my own garden, I can tell you that the sight of this exquisite blue poppy starting to unfurl it's silky petals  from it's golden haired bud is one of the more exciting moments in the garden year!

 

Meconopsis 'Lingholm' is the most reliably hardy of the Himalayan Blue Poppies. At Far Reaches, they dot the shade garden and at the back are allowed to seed down into what looks like a drainage ditch, as if to say, "Oh, those weedy things just pop up everywhere here in gardening paradise."  It makes me smile every time I see them.

Although fairly easy to grow here, they do require some attention and even then don't seem to be extremely long lived.  However, seed is produced which can be started to make more. According to Kelly, "A small percentage will bloom and die - that is just the roll of the Blue Poppy dice and part of the mystique."    There is a blue poppy meadow  at the  Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden but I've never been there at the right time to see what must be a spectacular display.  Val Easton has and wrote an article about it here.  The folks at Lakewold Gardens have a large planting as well and have reported that they have to replace a few each year.

Seeing these fabled blue blooms for a few weeks in May is worth the trouble for some. 

Meconopsis  with a little bit of violet. (grandis?)

Do check out the other meconopsis offerings at Far Reaches.  The violet form is also pretty gorgeous but they were none blooming on this particular visit.

From bud to seed head, this is an exciting plant!

 

Want to know more and see some beautiful images?  Click on over to  The Meconopsis Group.