Anyone have Matilija Poppy suckers (Romneya)

I've purchased seeds on ebay, but have not been able to get them to germinate. Also, tried Annies, they are out and have been out for a long time. If anyone has any suckers/roots they would like to trade for something, please e-mail me. Will purchase one from you if you have any extras. Thanks for reading this. Antoinette

Mail coming your way.

Antoinette, I'd love to hear how you do with them. We're planning on using some of those when we plant this fall.

Too bad-if I had known, I could have picked up one at the Mendocino College plant sale yesterday (which I work every year) They sold all they had yesterday. The Hort Dept did have luck getting seeds to germinate this year-I think it was a student project and she "smoked them" or something (OK, no cracks about "smoking them"-yes, we all know what the largest cash crop is up here in Mendoland, but that doesn't mean we're all gettin high up here. Well, at least not during class....)
MG

Thought I'd post this story that was on one of the sites that I found while trying to find info for rooting cuttings.

It is just a real neat legend about this plant.


Flowers from an Old California Legend



The white petals and ball of golden stamens at the center inspired the common name, "fried-egg plant." (SHNS photo courtesy DIY _ Do It Yourself)


By Maureen Gilmer
DIY--Do It Yourself Network

It is the heroine's white flower in "The Mask of Zorro," this lesser-known Matilija poppy of California. But few remember the source of the name that dates back to a Spanish mission legend.

A young girl was stolen from her tribe by Spanish raiders seeking laborers for the mission. A battle ensured and she believed her father, Matilija, chief of the Chumash, was killed along with her lover. Thinking herself an orphan, she lived at the mission until discovering that both men had indeed survived, but lived in hiding.

That night she fled in darkness back to her home, Ojai, the place of the eagle. There she found the men in a sheltered canyon, but the soldiers followed her to the hideout. The next morning they slaughtered every living soul in the renegade band -- except for Matilija's daughter. She lay protected under the body of her lover. After the Spanish left, she dragged her beloved's body up to the highest peak to nurse his wounds, but he died.

Years passed, and a stranger mounted the hill to gather the great white blossoms that crowned the crest. He found that they guarded the grave of two lovers. As the old text states, "Kind nature had woven the choicest of shrouds about the young form of the brave Indian girl. The wealth of the blossoms enveloped the sleeper, and no irreverent hand dared to pluck them away, lest the fair soul reflected in the white poppy leaves should flee from the earth and leave barren the Ojai, the fair nest. So, even so, the footsteps of the stranger retreated and left Matilija's poppy like sweet silent music to guard the flower-rimmed grave."

This beautiful story attests to Romneya coulteri's preference for high places extending all along the southern coastal ranges. There it is assured full sun, perfect drainage, minimal soil fertility and nocturnal air movement with moist Pacific fog. This bushy poppy thrives in fast-draining sandy or gravely soil. Their roots travel through this airy mix producing large stands from a single mother plant. If placed in heavy soils, even with amendments, the roots will likely rot over the first rainy season. Romneya's seed requires fire to germinate in high numbers, so most plants are started by root cuttings and offsets.

This poppy isn't fond of transplanting or root disturbance, so it doesn't pay to buy big plants. It's better to start off with numerous 1-gallon-sized plants with their easy-to-manage rootball.

Place Matilija poppy with morning to midday sun and protection from very hot dry winds. To enhance drainage, grow in loosely stacked, dry stone-walled raised beds. Fill these with a high percentage of coarse construction sand and organic matter blended into ordinary soils. It's not an exact science, but it is best to err on the side of too much sand than too little. The key to these plants is to water deeply the first year to encourage more extensive rooting, but once established you can back off

Few plants are as devilishly difficult to grow, or equally as tenacious once established.

And as with all poppies, enjoy its transient beauty, for none of them survive as cut flowers. Best of all, its great white blossoms literally leap out at you under the light of the full moon. And perhaps amid the flowers you will see the ghost of Matilija's daughter quietly weeping over the grave of her lover.

(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of "Weekend Gardening" on DIY-Do It Yourself Network. E-mail her at [e-mail:mo@moplants.com]. For more information, visit : [HYPERLINK@www.moplants.com]

kaperc,

about one block from here, there are several big bushes and they are in bloom.. my husband won't let me snatch one.. (not that I would) but want one so bad. They are doing great in this area.

This message was edited Apr 30, 2005 1:22 PM

Great story, Gourd. Hopefully they will do okay here, as we have good drainage -- and now I know where the sand that the builders left can go! Why not snatch some seeds and write to the college about how they succeeded germinating them?

Cheers,

Kathleen

I have to figure out how to get on the other side of the fence... one minor detail I forgot to mention..lol.

Let's see, how about one of those extension things that you use to grab things on the top shelf? You could fix a trap of some sort on the end, push it through the fence, and Bob's your uncle! Just hope no photographer from the local news is lurking! OTOH, you could ask whoever is behind said fence, though it wouldn't be as much fun. :-)

kaperc,

I finally found them at Anniesannuals this morning, I keep checking and they are finally available.. ordered a couple.. boy am one happy camper..

Thanks Candy for the offer of cuttings, I am better off with roots with this one I think, got lucky this morning with annies.

Thanks, Gourd. That's a great web site. Las Pilitas carries gallon size plants for $2 more, though, and they're only a few miles from me, so I'll pick mine up there -- they also have some gorgeous columbines I'm going back for. Are you coming to the SD roundup? LP would be a good side trip. :-)

Antoinette, just a reminder--these plants are sensitive when they are first planted. A number of years back I got one about this time of year. I planted it and then lost it about 2 months later because I watered it too much (if you think once a month is too much). I promptly went back to the nursery and got another one. I was a little worried because by this time it was July and hot as h!!! The only time I watered the replacement plant was when I first planted it and then didn't water it at all. I just let the winter rains take care of that. Mine looks like it is getting ready to bloom now and the tallest growth is maybe 6-7 feet tall. You wont get any action this first year but late next winter watch out.

By the way, another pointer--you are supposed to cut back severely in early winter. My first winter I cut back to one foot. The next year the growth was pretty decent. Then on that other garden site someone said to cut back to almost soil level. They said it promotes a more spreading and bushy plant. Stupid me--the next winter I cut back to about two inches! Well, I think I set it back about a year or two. This last winter I cut it back to about two to three-foot stalks and it has come back fabulously. My experience--cut back to higher stalks.

Also, the best time to collect/gather rooted suckers I would think is when you are doing the pruning. I do mine in early December. They also have a delightful, light scent.

-Ron-