Blue Heaven

In 1913 British explorer and butterfly collector George Bailey was travelling in the Tsangpo region of eastern Tibet when he came across something quite astonishing, a flower as blue as the sky above it. It was a tall  poppy, and when Bailey's dried sample arrived back in Britain, it caused a huge stir in the horticultural community, which clamoured to grow it. Yet over the next decade this blue flower from the western  Himalayas proved as elusive as the Yeti and it wasn't until 1924 that plant hunter Frank Kingdon Ward found the flower in the wild and returned with seed.

When it was exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show, Meconopsis baileyi as it had been named, was greeted with delight. Yet in fact, if the fashionable gardeners of Chelsea had only known it, one form of the blue poppy, Meconopsis grandis, had been discovered almost 30 years earlier and as early as 1906 was reported as growing in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. And earlier still, another species, Meconopsis simplicifolia, had been cultivated in Britain,

Yet whatever the origins of their plants, most of the gardeners who then attempted to grow big blue poppies faced disappointment. These proved to be fussy, dying out rapidly when planted in dry or alkaline soil.

However in Perth in the 1920s one couple who were passionate about plants were laying out their new garden and as it turned out their damp, south-facing slope with acidic soil would provide the perfect conditions for the blue poppy to flourish. John and Dorothy Renton knew all the great plant collectors of the day and their garden grew with help from seed collected by George Forrest, Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff. The blue poppies that took root here became famous as one of the horticultural wonders of the age.

Today Branklyn Garden, now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, is still renowned for its  poppies which, from the second week of May, start to open up their petals in shades of blue that are deep and pure and as iridescent as silk. Catch them on damp days, when the tiny hairs that cover their foliage trap raindrops, and the whole garden appears to shimmer.

Earlier this year Alpine plant specialist and meconopsis grower, Jim Jermyn took over as Property Manager at Branklyn, and under his guidance the garden's collection of rare alpine plants and blue poppies is already expanding. He explained how gardens like Branklyn played a part in creating the huge number of blue poppies that exist today.

"In the 1930s Ludlow and Sherriff brought back Meconopsis grandis from the area in the eastern Himalayas where Bhutan borders Assam and this time it was introduced into wider cultivation. In the wild, baileyi and grandis would never have met but in gardens they hybridised into lots of new and vigorous varieties. Many of these are sterile, but some are fertile.

"When a plant can only be reproduced by division its genetic material is limited, but plants that arise from seed are stronger than the original."

As blue poppies continued to multiply, confusing arose over their naming, but some plant detectives were on the case. Amongst them was Dr Evelyn Stevens, whose garden at Sherrifmuir near Dunblane has long been a magnet for m econopsis enthusiasts.

In 1998, she and other growers formed The Meconopsis Group which is dedicated to correctly identifying existing varieties and naming new ones as they arise. In 2015 Dr Stevens published 'A Pictorial Guide to the Big Blue Poppies' which contains photographs and descriptions of many of the meconopsis that grow at Branklyn.

Many are named for the people who first identified them and the places where they have arisen and they read like a Who's Who of gardens and gardeners in Scotland and the north of England.

"The variety 'Lingholm' is probably the most important meconopsis," says Jim, referring to a mid-blue cultivar that was purchased from the famous alpine specialist's Inshriach nursery near Aviemore and grown at Lingholm, a country house in Cumbria.

"It is probably of hybrid origin, more 'grandis' than 'baileyi', but without DNA testing we can't be certain."

Yet you don't need its genetic code to recognise that 'Lingholm' and the many other varieties of meconopsis that have arisen from it, are one of Scotland's horticultural treasures. We may bemoan our damp, cool climate, but the blue poppies that flourish here because of it, are the envy of gardeners around the world.

Colour Spectrum
Not all big blue poppies are in fact blue, some are white, pale yellow, purple or mauve. Meconopsis baileyi 'Alba', which has pure white flowers, is one of the most widely available and easiest to grow.

How to Grow Blue Poppies
Blue poppies grow best in dappled shade, on soil that doesn't dry out. They prefer an acidic soil that is rich in organic material and they benefit from an annual mulch of compost. While they can be planted under the shelter of the tree canopy, which will help to prevent scorching from either wind or sun, grow them too close to the trunk and they will struggle to compete with the tree for moisture and nutrients.

As most big blue poppies are sterile, they will not set seed, but they can be increased by digging up large clumps, splitting these and replanting in well-prepared soil.

Garden Notebook
Branklyn Garden, 116 Dundee Road, Perth, PH2 7BB

The garden covers two acres and is packed with rare plants from China, Bhutan, Tibet and the Himalayas. It holds a Plant Heritage National Plant Collection of Meconopsis.

www.nts.org