Macleaya Species, Bocconia, Five-Seeded Plume-Poppy, Plume Poppy

A friend gave me 3 plume poppy plants last year. I was very impressed by their lovely leaves—and the speed and height of their growth, ...Read Moreeven though where I planted them is shaded most of the time. They multiplied (via runners) soon enough that I was able to plant some offspring in another bed, on the other side of my house. Again, I was impressed by how they managed to thrive, even though they were right next to the house, so got little moisture.

Then.

This year I discovered those plants growing all over both garden plots. Like the dreaded chameleon plant, it has fleshy runners that break easily, so I was never sure if I was getting the entire runner out of the ground. Every day new plants appear—and they're coming up in the middle of other plants, so they're hard to pull out without damaging the plants that I really want. Oh, yes, they're working their way up through my neighbor's lawn as well.

I wrote my friend about the plants, and she said, oh, she just manages them by pulling out the ones she doesn't want. That may work for her, but I have to poke around a very populated garden to find these suckers.

I just read an article defending the plant, saying it's worth it if you can manage it. So I wish those who can manage it luck; I'm unable to.

BTW, I live in Oak Park, IL, as does my friend who gave me the plants.

Flowered the first year from seed, at about 2 feet. I planted them in very deep shade so it did not grow very tall, and got a bit floppy,...Read More but they have very unique leaves. I am moving them when it cools off a bit this fall to a brighter location, and leaving one as a backup in it current location in case the transplant does not work. But from the way it sounds I am pretty sure the transplant wont be a problem. I cant comment on the aggressiveness yet as its too small, but I will be cutting off the flowers after they finish blooming each year just in case. I did not get high germination, 4 out of about 50 seeds, but I dont see any reason to save anymore as everyone's description says they multiply like crazy. The flat seed pods seem to remain on the stems while they all ripen, so should give time for all the flowers to bloom before removal. Most the area around my yard is dry hickory and oak forest, so I doubt they would spread too much, but they did grow well under the hickories in the yard, so they are at least Juglone resistant.

This is a wonderful architectural plant but seems to only survive in Alaska when planted against the foundation of a building where it ge...Read Morets some protection from wind and drying out too much. It does spread quickly along the foundation, but is easy enough to dig out every year to manage the size of the patch. Where happy it gets six to ten feet tall and wide here, so it needs some space and staking.

A very beautiful plant, grown mainly for its bold and beautiful foliage, blue-green on top and silver below. I've seen this grow to 7-8' ...Read Moretall. The pale apricot colored flowers are attractive but very transient.

BE FOREWARNED: it sends out long underground runners at lightning speed. I have friends who're willing to dig them out as the price to be paid for the glorious foliage. (At least the runners are fairly shallow.) I've decided that this plant isn't worth the effort.

It doesn't like being confined to a big sunken bottomless pot. I don't know how it knows, but it stayed short when I confined it to a 10 gallon pot.

I find self-sown seedlings a hundred feet or more from the parent, not in great numbers but often in places where they may not be spotted till they're well established.

This has naturalized in much of eastern North America. It's considered invasive of natural habitat in Tennessee.