Further Reading

Books

Two books have been the main source of information on the genus Meconopsis, unfortunately, both long out of print. These are George Taylor's classic monograph of 1934, "An account of the genus Meconopsis" and James Cobb's well-regarded "Meconopsis" (1989). A chapter in Chris Grey-Wilson's "Poppies: the Poppy Family in the Wild and in Cultivation" (1996, revised edition 2000), is also devoted the genus.

Nonetheless, by the end of the 20th century it was clear that there were many problems in the identification and nomenclature of at least one group of plants within the genus, namely the big perennial blue poppies found in gardens. The need to attempt to clarify this situation was the stimulus for the formation of The Meconopsis Group in 1998.

As the Group began to achieve its goals it was clearly desirable to make its conclusions known as widely and as rapidly as possible. Therefore a series of articles have been written on behalf of the Group, (so far, mainly by Evelyn Stevens and Chris Brickell). These are published in several journals in order to reach as wide a readership as possible, some largely repeating the content of others. To help readers who have access to different journals, the most significant of these articles are grouped together below, journal by journal, starting with the least recent and giving their titles. As a further guide there is a brief summary of their contents. Following these sets of articles, further relevant references are listed. The first of these is a recent book (2009) by our longstanding member, Bill Terry.

The Plantsman (previously The New Plantsman)

Stevens, E. & Brickell, C.D. (2001) The New Plantsman Vol.8 part 1 pp48-61 "Problems with the big perennial blue poppies".
The first report setting out the problems concerning the identities and naming of these plants followed by a report on the Group, (then called cultivar-group), naming-scheme adopted by The Meconopsis Group.

Stevens, E. (2001) The New Plantsman Vol. 8 part 2 pp105-111 "Further observations on the big perennial blue poppies".

Stevens, E. & C.D. Brickell (2002) The Plantsman Vol. NS1, part 2, pp88-92 "Meconopsis 'Lingholm'".
Describes and discusses M. 'Lingholm' (Fertile Blue Group).

The Rock Garden (SRGC journal)

Stevens, E. (1997) The Rock Garden Vol. 25, no.100, pp267-278 "Meconopsis 'Jimmy Bayne'".
This account was the starting point for the formation of The Meconopsis Group.

Swift, M. (1998) The Lakeland Gardener 13, pp34-38 "Meconopsis x sheldonii Two Cumbrian Hybrids"
Tells the story of the discovery of M. 'Lingholm'.

Stevens, E. (1998) The Rock Garden Vol. 25, no.101, pp399-402 "Meconopsis x sheldonii 'Lingholm strain'".
Largely re-telling Mike Swift's account in the The Lakeland Gardener.

Stevens, E. & Brickell, C.D. (2001) The Rock Garden Vol. 27, no.107, pp138-151 "Problems with the big perennial blue poppies".
See summary for the first article in New Plantsman, above.

Stevens, E. (2001) The Rock Garden Vol. 27, no.107, pp151-157 "Further observations on the big perennial blue poppies".

Stevens, E & Brickell, C.D. (2002) The Rock Garden Vol.27, no.109, pp381-388 "Meconopsis 'Lingholm' (Fertile Blue Group)".

Stevens, E. (2003) The Rock Garden Vol.28, no.110, pp85-90 "Distinguishing Meconopsis betonicifolia from M. 'Lingholm'".
Describes the differences in the seeds, also seed capsules, habit, flowers and leaves. Also recounts the story of the introduction of M. betonicifolia 'Hensol Violet'.

Stevens, E. (2006) The Rock Garden Vol 29, no. 117, pp52-67 "Awards to big blue poppies"
Report of awards given to 8 cultivars of big blue poppies by the Joint Rock Garden Plant Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society in June 2005.

Stevens, E. in Alpine Anthology (2002) The Alpine Gardener, The Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society Vol.70, pp409-412 "The Meconopsis Group and the perennial big blue poppies".
Summarises the work of The Meconopsis Group and gives references to the fuller articles in The Plantsman (The New Plantsman) and The Rock Garden. Also describes the differences between the seeds of M. betonicifolia and M.'Lingholm'.

Terry, B. (2009) "Blue Heaven - Encounters with the Blue Poppy" TouchWood Editions. Canada ISBN 978-1-894898-82-9
This is the only book currently in print devoted soley to the big blue poppies. See www.meconopsis.ca.

McCosh, S.M. (1982) "Between Two Gardens - The diary of two Border gardens" Printed and distributed by Titus Wilson & Son Ltd., Kendal, Cumbria.

Cobb, J.L.S. (1994) The Rock Garden Vol 24, no. 94, pp38-52 "Good-bye Meconopsis"
Of particular relevance, is reference to a "fertile x sheldonii". Note that this subsequently became recognised as M. 'Lingholm' (see Swift,1998).

Lawson, J. (1996) The Rock Garden Vol 25, no 98, pp20-28 "Inshriach Nursery".
See p23 for information on M. 'Branklyn'.

Cobb, J.L.S. (2003) The Rock Garden Vol. 28, no. 111, pp58-71."Meconopsis revisited"

C.D. Brickell. (Chairman) and Members of the Editorial Committee (2004, 7th edn) "International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants" (also known as "ICNCP" or "Cultivated Plant Code")
This book contains the rules for naming cultivated plants. These rules have been adopted by The Meconopsis Group in its attempts to clarify identification and naming in the big perennial blue poppies.

Christie, I. (2005) The Caledonian Gardener 2005, pp28-37 "Blue Poppies and Friends".

Grey-Wilson, C. (1996) The New Plantsman Vol 3, pp22-39 "Meconopsis integrifolia, the yellow poppywort and its allies"
This is a taxonomic reassessment of M. integrifolia and the closely related species.

Grey-Wilson, C. (2002) The Plantsman Vol. NS1, part 4, pp221-227 "A new blue poppy from western China"
This new species is M. sinomaculata.

Grey-Wilson, C. (2006) Curtis's Botanical Magazine Vol, 23 Issue 2, pp176-209
"The true identity of Meconopsis napaulensis D.C."
The result of assessing the true identity of M. napaulensis has been the description of four new species and the reinstatement of M. wallichii.

Grey-Wilson, C. (2006) The Alpine Gardener, Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society, Vol 74, pp212-225 "A new Meconopsis from Tibet"
This new species, M. tibetica was found by an AGS expedition to south Tibet in 2005.

Grey-Wilson, C. (2009) The Alpine Gardener, Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society Vol 77, pp217-225 "Bailey's Blue Poppy Restored". (The author, who is also Editor, Alpine Garden Society, has given kind permission for a pdf version of the paper to be available. It may viewed/downloaded here AGS_Bulletin_pg217_225.pdf.)
In this article C. Grey-Wilson sets out to justify his reinstatement of the name M. baileyi for the taxon known since 1934 as M. betonicifolia.

Stevens, E. (2006) Sibbaldia no. 4, pp31-58 "The Meconopsis Group, the big perennial blue Himalayan poppies and RHS awards"
This is a new journal for botanical garden horticulture and the article covers much the same area (but in greater detail and with many more photographs) as Stevens (2006) in The Rock Garden.

C. Grey-Wilson & J. Mitchell J (2007), Sibbaldia no. 5, pp115-127 "Establishing and maintaining collections of monocarpic Meconopsis"

Elliott, A and Kenicer, G.J. (2009), Sibbaldia no. 7, pp159-179 "The effects of storage on germination in Meconopsis"

"RHS Plant Finder" Published by Dorling Kindersley.
Guide to where to buy over 73000 plants. Also gives guidiance on the rules of plant naming etc. New edition produced annually. See also Related Organisations

We would welcome hearing of other relevant literature to add to this list. Please email plantmatters@meconopsis.org if you know of something suitable.