Contact and Membership

Contacting us
We invite you to contact us on any aspect of the genus Meconopsis or The Meconopsis Group. To do so, please select from the following email addresses :

• secretary@meconopsis.org  Administration and membership enquiries.
• plantmatters@meconopsis.org  To provide information on, or to enquire about, the genus (especially concerning known 'old' clones or historical data).
• sitemanager@meconopsis.org  Comments or queries about our web site.
• seedexchange@meconopsis.org  Seed exchange enquiries (members only).

Alternatively please write to
   Dr Evelyn Stevens, Co-ordinator,
   The Meconopsis Group,
   The Linns, Sheriffmuir,
   Dunblane, Perthshire, FK15 0LP,
   United Kingdom.

Who are we?
We are a largely Scottish-based study group, founded in 1998. Our aims are outlined below. For study purposes we organise meetings, held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and visits to Meconopsis-rich gardens and nurseries. There are around 150 members, world-wide

The Group is affiliated to the Scottish Rock Garden Club and is supported by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).

The Group is managed by a committee, which comprises:

Chairman: John Mitchell (Garden Supervisor, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)
Vice-chairman: Jim Jermyn (Author and ex-nurseryman, Show manager of Gardening Scotland)
Co-ordinator and co-founder: Dr. Evelyn Stevens (Holder of NCCPG collection of M. betonicifolia and M. grandis species and hybrids)
Secretary: Mrs Norma McDowall
Treasurer: Dr. Peggy Anderson
Seed-exchange manager: Jim Jermyn
Members of committee: Steve McNamara (Head Gardener, Branklyn Garden, Perth), Ian Christie (Nursery Proprietor), Mrs. Beryl McNaughton (Nursery Proprietor), Dr. Geoff Hill, Cameron Carmichael (Recently retired as NCCPG Co-ordinator of Group Collections in Scotland)

Joining us
We welcome new members and if, after reading details of our aims (below), you wish to join, please email us: secretary@meconopsis.org .
Alternatively post a completed application form (printer friendly) to the Co-ordinator at the address above.

Benefits of membership
Membership of the Group provides an excellent way to keep abreast of advances in knowledge in the world of Meconopsis, both botanical and horticultural.

1. Attendance at Group meetings and receipt of full reports of the meetings.
   
   
2. Participation in visits to The Meconopsis Group Trial beds at RBGE and other Meconopsis-rich gardens and nurseries.
   
   
3. Participation in the Group's Meconopsis seed exchange.
   
   
4. Opportunities to purchase less common species and cultivars.
   
   
5. Contact with like-minded enthusiasts.
   
   
6. Opportunities to offer help with the work of the Group, particularly of special expertise, and if practical, of help by means of running individual's own trials. But just a love of the plants is the minimal requirement for membership.
   
   
7. Access to the Members Area of the web-site which contains a complete document archive of the Group.

Aims of the Group
The Meconopsis Group was formed In 1998 and its aims are:

• To clarify the identities and nomenclature of the big perennial blue poppies in cultivation.
• To study the taxonomy of other members of the genus.
• To study the cultural needs of the various members of the genus.
• Conservation of the species and cultivars in gardens.

The Group seeks to achieve its aims In the following ways:

• Encouraging an enthusiastic membership with a variety of useful skills including just a plain love of the plants. At present this is around 150 members including some from overseas. Meetings are held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), with talks from experts, discussions and reports of the Group's work. Members receive detailed reports of proceedings.
• Conducting Identification Trials at the RBGE of the big perennial blue poppies. This has been done largely by sourcing as widely as possible, plants with purported identities and if possible, with known histories They are then grown in the beds near one another for detailed comparison. Most are sterile clones which are known to have been grown In gardens for many decades.
• Clarifying the names of the big blue poppies making use of a naming scheme which we have developed based on the Group concept. Decisions on names are taken by a committee and confirmed after consultation with the members. We are taking care to comply with the ICNCP rules of nomenclature.
• Publishing the recommendations of the Group in appropriate journals and by means of fact-sheets to promote cultivars of exceptional horticultural merit. The naming recommendations for the big perennial blue poppies have been accepted by the RHS Plant Finder
  
• Encouraging nurseries, garden-centres, seed-producers, wholesale growers, gardens open to the public and private gardeners to adopt the recommended names.
• Propagating vegetatively (by division) the scarcer forms with the aim of wider distribution.
• Encouraging the trialing of the various clones in different climatic conditions.
• A Seed Exchange for members is organised.
• Scientific studies are being carried out, e.g. preparing herbarium specimens and a photographic library, DNA analysis and chromosome counts. Portfolios of standard specimens will eventually be deposited in appropriate herbaria.

Note: The details above apply mainly to the big perennial blue poppies which were the Group's starting point. Recently a start has been made on studying the monocarpic species.