Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Romneya coulteri--Matilija Poppy



The Romneya coulteri is in the middle of winter doldrums right now. The leaves are pale and frayed. The flowers have gone to seed. But not too many seeds. That is the thing with this plant. It produces very few seeds, and it is very hard to get those seeds to sprout. But come June, the big white crinkled flower with the deep yellow center will be so wonderful. Of course I want to propagate it. Some people have had luck with fire, so that is what I tried today. I planted seeds in a clay pot, watered them, then covered them with dry pine needles. Then I put the pot on concrete and set it on fire, keeping a hose nearby. Everything went smoothly, and now I just have to wait to see if it worked.

2 comments:

  1. did it worked ?
    i'd like to propagate this beautifull plant.
    tx to advise.
    regards.

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  2. It did work, but not as well as I would have liked. I planted about 100 seeds and got about a dozen seedlings.

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