Meconopsis cambrica - Blue Poppy

Meconopsis cambrica, also known as the Welsh poppy, resembles a poppy, but it is a perennial and is lemon yellow. It is charming in its simplicity, both light and rustic. Mischievous in its way of appearing randomly in the garden, it prefers shade and coolness. It is an excellent plant that easily self-seeds and blooms almost all year round, from spring to the brink of winter. Its very fresh green foliage is deeply cut and arranged in a rosette, resembling that of celery. It is easy to cultivate in ordinary, heavy soil. Ideal for natural areas of the garden.

Meconopsis cambrica belongs to the family Papaveraceae. It is a species native to Western Europe, specifically the Atlantic coast and regions around the Bay of Biscay, Wales, and Ireland. It is also found in damp woodlands. It is a perennial plant with a taproot from which a small, more or less dense tuft of deeply cut, light green, hairy leaves emerges at the collar. The plant reaches 40 cm (16in) in height when flowering and 30 cm (12in) in diameter. The flowering period is impressive. Already in bloom in April, this poppy is still blooming in October or even November if there is no frost when the trees are red and losing their leaves. The flowers, like golden yellow to lemon yellow poppies, are carried on long slender stems. They measure 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2in) in diameter. The basal leaves are compound, elliptical to pinnatisect, light green on the upper side, bluish on the underside, downy, and measure 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8in) in length. The upper leaves are similar, but they have shorter petioles. The fruit is a glabrous capsule that contains a large quantity of tiny black seeds.

The Meconopsis cambrica, if it does not have the originality and unattainable beauty of other species in the genus, remains a delicate and charming alternative to the imposing flowering of classic poppies. This plant thrives in partially shaded areas in a garden. It will always be welcome and easy to combine thanks to its light appearance, in rustic borders or even in cool rockeries. Difficult to maintain in continuous masses in a bed, it is best to let it emerge wherever it pleases, among ferns, alongside heucheras, bleeding hearts, or lungworts in a woodland scene. In a rockery, away from delicate alpine plants, mixed with spring bulbs (such as Ipheion or scillas), with low-growing summer-flowering perennials such as Campanula portenschlagiana or Geranium cinereum, or with low conifers like Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chips'. Try combining it with the late flowering of Ceratostigma plumbaginoides with its cerulean blue flowers; the effect is guaranteed, especially accompanied by the reddening leaves of surrounding bushes.