Himalayan Blue Poppies

Wow, mid-afternoon today, 28 June 2017, thunder, lightning and heavy rain just blew in! Lightning Alert is in effect. Temperature is 17C. So glad I went to the Reader Rock Garden yesterday, not today.

It is always a joy to see these Himalayan Blue Poppies growing at Reader Rock Garden, and I was happy to find them in bloom yesterday, 27 June 2017. The sun was shining and, for the first time in quite a while, it wasn't windy, just a very slight breeze. I used to love going to this garden, usually after I had been volunteering in the same part of the city. Since I stopped volunteering (after a volunteer 'career' of 37 years!), I haven't been going. Yesterday, I decided I had better go, or the plants would be in seed before too long.

"Blue Himalayan Poppies are one of the most impressive plants for the shade garden. Plants form a rosette of hairy leaves, bearing large satiny flowers in an amazing shade of true blue. These are not always easy to please, demanding an evenly moist, rich soil and cool woodland conditions. Plants are not long lived, typically flowering in the second or third year, setting seed, then dying out. Gardeners in hot summer climates seldom succeed with these plants, yet they are surprisingly tolerant of cold winter conditions."

www.perennials.com/plants/meconopsis-betonicifolia.html