IRISH GARDENING 



T 39 



Welsh and Himalayan Poppies. 



The Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) is a 

 familiar plant in many gardens, and is now re- 

 presented by double yellow and orange flowers. 

 These Poppies seem to thrive in almost any kind 

 of soil provided it is well drained, and once 

 established there is no difficulty, for self-sown 

 seedlings spring up freely around the parent 

 plants, the doubles seeding almost as well as the 

 single forms. 



Providing the seed pods are constantly picked 

 off, they give a long season of flower and give a 

 bright bit of colour in the herbaceous border, 

 their height being about two feet. The single 

 form also makes a worthy companion to associate 

 with Erigeron muc- 

 ronatus and Cory- 

 dalis lutea on old 

 crumbling walls. 



The Welsh Poppy 

 is found wild in W. 

 Europe, from Ire- 

 land to the Pyre 

 nees, and, of course, 

 is a good perennial. 

 There is also a 

 beautiful little an- 

 nual called Meco- 

 nopsis heterophylla, 

 growing only a foot 

 high, now bearing 

 bright orange-red 

 flowers. This re- 

 quires to be sown 

 each spring where 

 it is to flower, and 

 is the only kind 

 which is found in 

 America. 



All the other 

 species in general 

 cultivation are na- 

 tives of the Hima- 

 layas. With the 

 exceptions of M. 

 grandis and race- 

 mosa, they are bi 

 ennials, and M. 

 Wallichii, with its 

 blue satin flowers, is 

 the most beautiful 

 of all. The seed 

 ripens about Au- 

 gust, and should 

 be sown when dry, 



soon after gathering : it then will usually ger- 

 minate freely, but if kept until spring, may take 

 a long time to come up. 



Meconopsis Wallichii will not stand drought, 

 but the soil needs to be well drained to carry 

 away the water in winter. Provided the drainage 

 is good there is no need to coddle the plants by 

 covering with sheets of glass in winter, as is often 

 recommended. At Glasnevin we find these 

 biennial Poppies, such as M. Wallichii, nepalensis, 

 paniculata and integrifolia, appreciate manure, and 

 plenty of old cow manure is mixed with peaty 

 soil a foot below the surface. With such pre- 

 paration M. WaUichii, planted in the open spaces 

 of Rhododendron beds, has reached seven feet in 

 height, bearing numerous blue flowers three to 

 four inches across. 



By saving seed of the best blues one soon gets 

 them to come almost all with that satin-blue 

 shade so much admired, but by all means keep 

 the plants away from the clarety-coloured 

 M. nepalensis, for they are so nearly related — 

 probably colour forms of the same plant — that 

 they intercross too freely. In a partially shaded 

 place the flowers last longer than in the bright 

 sun. 



These Himalayan Poppies are usually con- 

 sidered plants which are not too easy to grow, so 

 that it is refreshing to find one that grows well 

 and is a good perennial. The first time I saw 

 Meconopsis chelidonifolia was in the late Mr. 

 Gumbleton's garden, growing in ordinary soil 

 on a border. Although not so striking or 

 beautiful as the blue biennial Poppy, yet this new 



comer is pretty and 

 attractive. Las c 

 year it was two feet 

 high, this year it 

 has grown four 

 feet, planted in a 

 peaty soil. The 

 stems are very 

 slender, branching 

 o ut freely at 

 flowering time, in 

 July, when the 

 stems turn quite a 

 deep brown or 

 nearly black. The 

 ovoid flower buds 

 are smooth, grace- 

 fully hanging on 

 wire-like stems. 

 The flowers are 

 yellow, one and a 

 half to two inches 

 across, with 



crimped petals ; the 

 pods are hairless ; 

 the leaves are tri- 

 1 o b e d : although 

 rather similar to 

 those of the Great 

 Celandine, they are 

 not so deeply lobed 

 and are less 

 toothed. 



Another good 

 point about M. 

 chelidonifolia is the 

 freedom with which 

 it may be in- 

 creased. The roots 

 divide easily in 

 spring, and last year bulbils were produced on 

 the flower stems which produced young plants. 



With these good qualities this plant ought 

 to be a useful one to the hybridist. — C. F. B. 



At the Shrewsbury Show, which is one of the 

 largest and best attended in the United Kingdom, 

 Messrs. Alex. Dickson were awarded ? lsrge gold 

 medal for a display of their famous Hawlmark 

 Roses covering a space of 120 feet square. In the 

 competitive class for decorative tables of Roses 

 competition was very keen. Messrs. Hugh 

 Dickson secured the Society's gold medal for a 

 charming display of their world -famed Roses. 



Meconopsis chelidonifolia. 

 A new yellow-flowered perennial. 



