Meconopsis Did not Come Up This Year

This was sent to us via email:

We have just received 10 Himalayan blue poppies from our daughter. They were shipped from Palmer, Alaska. We had some success with them a year ago but this year they did not come up. We know that they are tender but we want to give them the best chance, that is why we contacted you.

I thank you for any information that you can give me.
Yours truly, Joanne

(Judging from the rest of the email, I believe Joanne gardens in Washington state just north of Seattle. Eric)

 

I know that if the plants are flowering for the first time, they will "flower themselves to death" so I've been told to pick the flowers off the plant for the first year it sends up buds, allowing the plant to get big and healthy and then let it flower the next year.

They also will die if the temp goes over 30 degrees celsius I believe..

 

Monocarpic (dying after flowering, however long it takes to reach flowering size) unless prevented from setting seed the first year it blooms. Also needs rather specific conditions, the more like a high altitude meadow in a monsoonal climate the better it does. Drought, infertility, pelting by water dripping from trees overhead, mites, slugs and weevils are all threats. Only the European species is easy-going, the Asian ones may require a serious study of their requirements before making themselves at all comfortable.