I see the Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) growing quite often in local gardens, in positions where I can tell that the plant has sown itself. There's one growing alongside a house drain, where the bathroom water flows. Some Welsh Poppies found their way into the narrow strip of soil under my living room window and I thought, aaaah, sweet, let them grow. Well, they are, but you try and pull one up. I swear the root of one large plant headed for Australia and tied a knot in itself when it emerged from the other side. That's an exaggeration, a homonym, but they are real toughies and not as easy as you might think to pull up. Of course, it's not surprising that they are toughies, delicate looking survivors. Although I have pulled up most of the ones growing at the front of my home while they were still small, I caught this little yellow flower on camera today. Sneaky plant had grown without my noticing. I shall leave it there, for now.
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Meconopsis cambrica 'Welsh Poppy'
flowering in November |
As you can see by the above photograph, already their are dry seed heads which will have spilled seed onto the ground already. A new flower bud is forming too. I cannot deny though the beauty of this yellow poppy. If I were not a keen gardener, I might consider having a whole border with nothing else but these growing. They seem to get along quite well without the help of a gardener.