Indian Poppy

Indian Poppy (Meconopsis) - Handsome Poppyworts, the most familiar of which is the common Welsh Poppy (M. cambrica); the other kinds are natives of the Himalayas, hardy, but only of biennial duration. They may be easily raised from seed sown soon after ripening, preferably in a little warmth; and, indeed, a good stock of strong plants can be ensured only by annual sowings. The following is the most successful mode of cultivating them: A piece of ground is prepared by digging in good loam and well-rotted stable manure; a two-light frame is placed over it, and seedlings are put in about March. As soon as the plants are fairly established the sashes are removed (unless the weather is frosty), and throughout the summer the plants are well supplied with water. In the following April and May they will have become large plants, often 2 to 3 feet in diameter, and are then removed to where they are wanted to flower. This may be readily done without needlessly checking them, as they form so many fibrous roots that a good ball of soil usually adheres to them. They are thus grown on as quickly as possible, being treated like biennials. They should be planted out in a well-drained rock garden in good soil, with plenty of water in summer, but they must be kept as dry as possible in the winter, as excessive moisture in cold weather soon kills them. Sandstone broken fine should be placed under the leaves, to prevent contact with the damp soil.

Related Flowers

Meconopsis Aculeata

Meconopsis Aculeata - A singularly beautiful plant, with purple petals, like shot silk, which contrast charmingly with the numerous yellow stamens. The flowers are 2 inches across, on stems about 2 feet high.

Meconopsis Cambrica

Meconopsis Cambrica - For the wild garden or wilderness the Welsh Poppy is one of the best plants. It is a cheerful plant in all seasons, and a coloniser, making its home of the wall, rock, and the ruin. In many places it grows freely at the bottom of walls, or even in gravel walks if allowed a chance.

Meconopsis Grandis

Meconopsis Grandis - A newly introduced kind from the mountains of Sikkim, and one of the few true perennials in the genus. It is a plant of tall habit, with uncut leaves and solitary purple flowers of beautiful glossy texture.

Meconopsis Heterophylla

Meconopsis Heterophylla - The only kind found in America, where it grows over a wide area but is nowhere abundant, thriving best in the light, dry soils of California. It is an annual, and succeeds in this country both as a pot-plant under glass, or in the border during summer, where it flowers and ripens seed freely. It is a variable plant, but mostly reaches 12 to 18 inches in height, with pale green leaves, deeply cut, and hairy. The flowers, upon long slender stems, are red copper-colored or orange, with a deep maroon blotch in the centre, and a scent of Lily-of-the-Valley.

Meconopsis Horridula

Meconopsis Horridula - A little plant found at a great height in the Himalayas, growing as almost stemless tufts of lanceolate leaves, covered densely with prickles; the short stems bear bluish-purple flowers about an inch and a half wide.

Meconopsis Integrifolia

Meconopsis Integrifolia - A new kind, its pale yellow flowers being much admired. The plant grows at a height of 11,000 feet to 15,500 feet in the mountains of Thibet and S.W. China where myriads of plants are to be seen bearing flowers which sometimes measure 10 inches across. It is a biennial, hardy, and with oval uncut leaves of pale green, about 1 foot long when fully grown, and more or less covered with soft, silky hairs. The stems vary in height, but the plants flowered in this country were from 12 to 18 inches high, flowering until the first keen frosts. It is a moisture-loving plant, thriving in peat or leafy soil in a half-shady place.

Meconopsis Nepalensis

Meconopsis Nepalensis - s flower-stems 3 to 5 feet high, which are not much branched, the nodding blossoms, borne freely, are 2 to 3 1/2 inches across, and of a pale yellow.

Meconopsis Paniculata

Meconopsis Paniculata - A beautiful Himalayan plant with much-cut foliage and panicles of bright yellow flowers, which come true from the seed ripened sparingly in fine seasons.

Meconopsis Principis

Meconopsis Principis - A plant first found by Franchet in Thibet; it comes near M. punicea, but is not so large a plant, and its smaller crimson flowers are held erect instead of nodding.

Meconopsis Punicea

Meconopsis Punicea - A fine kind, growing at a great height in the mountains of Thibet. The leaves are entire, tapering at both ends, and covered with long coarse hairs of a shining yellow color. The massive flowers are borne singly upon slender stems of 1 1/2 to 2 feet, reaching at their best 6 inches wide, and composed of large drooping petals of carmine-red or reddish-purple.

Meconopsis Quintuplinervia

Meconopsis Quintuplinervia - A perennial kind from Manchuria, of dwarf growth as a rosette of long-stemmed uncut leaves, covered with reddish hairs and traversed by five prominent veins. The nodding flowers come during summer upon hairy stems of 6 to 12 inches, and are cup-shaped, 1 1/2 inches wide, and pale violet or purple with a large cluster of golden stamens.

Meconopsis Racemosa

Meconopsis Racemosa - A rare plant but lately introduced to this country. Its flowers range in color from pale lilac to deep purple, and have given good seed in the past autumn. China.

Meconopsis Simplicifolia

Meconopsis Simplicifolia - s a tuft of lance-shaped leaves, 3 to 5 inches long, slightly toothed, and covered with a short, dense, brownish pubescence. The unbranched flower-stalk is about 1 foot high, and bears at its apex a single violet-purple blossom, 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Meconopsis Sinuata Lobata

Meconopsis Sinuata Lobata - This handsome Meconopsis was very fine in a Scottish garden I visited this year. It was raised in quantity from seeds, and a good group in a partially-shaded place was very effective. The plants were about 3 feet high and bore many flowers of a wonderfully burnished purple. It is one of the best of the many Meconopsis which have been recently introduced. Like most of the others, it evidently prefers a moist and partially-shaded place.—S. Arnott.

Meconopsis Wallichi

Meconopsis Wallichi - A very handsome plant, between 4 and 5 feet high. It forms an erect pyramid, the upper half of which is covered with pretty pale blue blossoms, drooping gracefully from slender branchlets. It is a most conspicuous plant in the rock garden, where it withstands the winter without the least injury. Well-grown specimens have leaves 12 to 15 inches long, and a great number of pale blue flowers, opening terminally. Separate flowers do not last long, but a few expand at a time, and it is fully a month before they are all expanded at the base, by which time the seeds of those which opened first are nearly ripe.

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