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Blue poppy plants

A poppy is a herbaceous plant, small tree or shrub belonging to the Papaveraceae family. The thing is that poppies do not have blue flowers.

Blue poppy plants aren't really true poppies. They are from the Meconopsis genre. Some say this genre belongs to the Papaveraceae family others think they are separate species. The fact is that Meconopsis, to be a little more specific, blue Meconopsis are called poppies because they are very similar in structure: - Their flower parts are separate from each other - They both have 2 sepals that protect the flower when blooming - The flowers have usually 4 petals. - They both have numerous stamens - They both have slender free filaments surrounding the ovary.

The small difference between poppies and Meconopsis lies in the ovary, style and pistil. So it was agreed that blue Meconopsis would be called blue poppies. They are also called "big perennial blue".

Blue poppy plants are perennial (there are some cases where the plant becomes monocarpic and die after the first blossom). Have hairy, lance shaped, dark green basal and stem leaves. In springtime and early summer cupped flowers bloom in different shades of blue depending on the species. They occur in the eastern Himalayas and western China mainly so you could also hear them mentioned as Himalayan blue poppies.

There are 3 species of blue poppy plants:

- M. Betonicifolia: also known as M baileyi, grows 3 to 5 feet high and gets stems that can hold up to 5 flowers each. It is probably the most frequently grown one and it is recommended for first time growers because it's the easiest and more suited for warmer, drier climates. The flowers are sky blue. - M. Grandis: it grows 2 feet high and it's stems also can handle up to 5 flowers. The flowers are much bigger than in M. Betonicifolia. This plant is not as popular as M. Betonicifolia because it is more vulnerable to high temperatures and difficult to grow, but has become very important in making hybrids along with M. baileyi. - M. Simplicifolia: the least known of the 3. Grows up to 5 feet high. Each stem holds a single flower and the flower is smaller than the other 2 cousins.

Blue poppy plants are the species of Meconopsis that have had more publicity and propagation over the world. For that reason there are many hybrids as a result of combining the 3 main species. The hybrids have presented many variations: some are fertile and some are not, some become monocarpic, some flowers change colors in the growing process but end up in some kind of blue and some others just present a different shade of blue.