Meeting a Blue Poppy in Alaska

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It was a total surprise for me to see a Blue Poppy (Meconopsis grandis) during my recent trip to Alaska.
Actually, it was a surprise within a surprise. By accident, we discovered that the Homer Garden Club was holding its garden tour on the very Sunday when we planned to visit that community located on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. In the very first garden, which deserves a separate post, my jaw dropped at some point, and for several minutes, I was staring at pure-blue cup-shaped blooms innocently looking at me from the tops of tall thin stems.
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The owner of the garden was surprised by my surprise (what a post - full of surprises!). She said that blue poppies bloom in many places in town.
A June article in the Wall Street Journal by Anne Marie Chaker (WSJ, June 2, 2010) included descriptions of these flowers as 'the most heavenly blue flowers', 'notoriously finicky flower', 'botanical holy grain, legendary for its color and the challenges of cultivating it'. It also stated that "gardeners in parts of Maine and Alaska may be lucky enough to grow them, but it can be more challenging, in parts of the U.S. where early summers are hot".
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The well-known, award winning Homer garden designer Brenda Adams, whose garden also was on the tour, told us that there are two main conditions for the succesful growing of blue poppies: cool summers and good drainage.

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After the garden tour, I rushed to the nursery where local people told me they buy blue poppy plants. I was going to get several of them to take on the plane back to Washington state. Well, they were sold-out but don't feel sorry for me - the nursery itself was an absolutely magical place. I had several minutes there before it closed and didn't see all of it. But, what I saw made me say that it was the most amazing nursery I've ever seen.

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Coming home from the trip, I was happy to see some beautiful blooms, including the blue ones, in my own garden. I'll try to add a Blue Poppy to them next year. Himalayan Blue Poppy is said to grow in zone 5-8, and we are in zone 7b.

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Photographs of the blue poppies, except for the second one, were taken in the stunning garden of Brenda Adams (http://www.gardensbybrenda.com/)

Below, there are more pictures of her unforgettable garden.

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P.S. Pardon me for the quality of the pictures - it was raining cats and dogs when we were visiting Brenda Adams' garden. See the circles in the pond surrounded by the statuesque primulas?

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Stunning Verbascum was not less stunning, even in the rain, than the background view. We could only imagine how beautiful the view would look without the rain!

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One of my favorites in that garden, solitary clematis (Clematis integrifolia), with its showy nodding bell-shaped lavender-blue flowers:

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Rustic half-barrels with overflowing annuals create an exciting, cheerful spot in the middle of the lawn:

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Although vividly bright, Brenda's garden is somehow organically connected with surrounding native shrubs and tall grasses punctuated by the white umbels of Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum also known as Indian Celery or Pushki).

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Isn't it a great arrangement? Tall spikes almost repeat the angle of the evergreen trees, in the top right part of the picture:

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The size and the variety of the Aquilegia (Columbine)' flowers were very impressive! As Brenda said, many of them are the result of cross-pollinating.

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Gentiana lutea (Great Yellow Gentian), native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, was blooming for the first time in four years:

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I liked the naturalistic, almost effortless look of the borders:

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Brenda Adams shares her talent through 'Gardens By Design' services (http://www.gardensbybrenda.com/). For me, visiting her private retreat was a delightful and unforgettable experience. I learned about several plants unknown to me, got many ideas and had a chance to talk to a person obviously passionate about plants and Alaska.

I also learned that pictures CAN be taken during rain with the right equipment: an umbrella held by the strong hand of a loyal husband!

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Go to Gail' Clay and Limestone (http://www.clayandlimestone.com/) for Wildflower Wednesday.

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS