Poppies are charming flowers that brighten our day and lift the soul. Read our organic guide to learn all you need to know for how to grow poppies.
‘Poppies are perennials, forming a clump of hairy foliage that dies back every year after the painfully short bloom period in late spring and early summer. They get their name because the flower buds literally ‘pop’ open in the morning sun. Diverse in colour, the Blue Himalayan Poppy is much loved but also much harder to grow.
Blue Himalayan Poppy (Meconopsis baileyi syn. betonicifolia) With stunning sky blue flowers, this is the poppy everyone wants to grow! However, the bad news is that for most of Australia they are impossible or extremely difficult at best. Coming from the Himalayas they require cold winters and very mild summers. They need plenty of protection from our harsh sun and are thirstier than other poppies and must be kept moist. Officially a perennial but in our difficult climate they’re more likely to be short-lived. Some varieties will set seed.
The flower can be seen at
Edinburgh Botanic Garden (www.rbge.org.uk). RHS Wisley (www.rhs.org.uk).
Savill Garden, part of Windsor Great Park (www.savillgarden.co.uk).
REFLECTION
Blue Himalayan Poppy is my favourite type of poppy - the color blue is rare in its kind; according to color symbolism and color theory (Agoston, 1987) is associated with open spaces, freedom, intuition, imagination, expansiveness, inspiration, and sensitivity.
After did research on its living habit, I confirmed it is the most suitable type I should use them as citizens of my space as the features of this type of poppy are perfect in my scene - they need lower temperature compared with other types of poppy; they also required protection from harsh sunlight; adequate moisture must be ensured - the flowers still have a short life even though all conditions achieved.
- Cool, humid shady conditions (growing inside the fantastical space) and loose, well-draining soil (soft fabric and stuffed pillow, filled up with dreams).
- Most of they can be observed in British which predominantly Christian religious life and the culture of Greece(philosophy & myth I am working on) has also influenced British culture in some aspects via Humanism (Sachs, 2009).
Agoston, G. A. 1987, Color theory and its application in art and design, Heidelberg, Berlin, Germany
Sachs, J. 2009, Greece or Rome?: The Uses of Antiquity in Late Eighteenth‐ and Early Nineteenth‐Century British Literature, Literature Compass, vol.6, no.2, pp. 314–331.
