Close-up of Meconopsis betonicifolia
Waking up at 5:30 AM yesterday morning was worth it, photographically-speaking. The early morning light was magnificent, and the garden is both quiet (except for all the birds) and filled with fragrance at 7 AM. It seems like it is the only way to take good botanical photographs during hot summer days and evenings, so I’ll be switching my sleep patterns a bit.
The Himalayan blue poppies are just one of the many delights right now, although it seems to me there are fewer blooming this year than in previous years. The genus MeconopsisMeconopsis cambrica. The people at the Meconopsis Group think it is doubtful that this disjunct species will remain a Meconopsis with a taxonomic re-examination.
In the Asian Garden, you can find some plants flowering here and there at this time of year, although the largest patch of hybrid Meconopsis is yet to bloom near the fallen grand fir at the far end of the garden.
Hi, I am so excited but also anxious. My Meconopsis Betonicifolia are finally budding. I grew them from seen two years ago. I have been told to cut all the buds from them as
they come out. I have done this – 6 so far – it is so difficult to
do this, but I have been told that the plant will die if I do not do so. Last year they did not bud at all.
I hope you can help me – G
Hi Glenys,
I’m sorry, but I don’t know. I’m not a horticulturist or a master gardener. You’re far more likely to get an immediate response to your question if you ask at on the UBC Garden Forums.
Come to this from the ‘year-on’ link . . .
“Meconopsis cambrica. The people at the Meconopsis Group think it is doubtful that this disjunct species will remain a Meconopsis with a taxonomic re-examination”
Err . . no, since M. cambrica is the type species of Meconopsis. They’d have to move all the Himalayan species out to a different genus.
From this page on the distribution of Meconopsis in the wild:
I suppose that could be interpreted differently, but I took it to mean that the type would be reassigned and the name conserved for most species in the genus, much like what was done with Acacia.