Gardeners’ Queries...

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29803, 21 April 1962, Page 19

Gardeners’ Queries...

What is the best position to plant the Tibetan olue

poppy, Meconopsis baileyi?— (F.E.A.C., Holmwood.)

This lovely plant is not too easy to grow well in Canterbury for it likes a shady spot, moist soil with plenty of decaying leaves in it. and strongly objects to hot. dry winds. It very rarely lasts more than the second season here, whereas it is strictly a perennial. Seeds should be raised in a cool glasshouse in spring, and the seedlings pricked off. As they grow larger they should be potted into 3in pots, and p.anted out in late autumn or very early spring from these They’ will then flower in their second season. A sheltered semishaded border which can be given adequate water from early summer onwards would be ideal.

Last week you mentioned certain seeds which had been found to have a tong life. I have heard comment about wheat and peas germinating which had been found in ancient tombs in Egypt, but you did not mention them. Is this a fact or a fallacy?—(E.M.K.. Loburn.) All seeds found to have abnormally long lives have very tough seed coats. These tough seed coats slow down the food usage which is always going on inside the seed, and so prolong the seed's life. In the case of wheat or peas, neither seed possesses an impermeable seed coat, and the likelihood of a long life is therefore not great Most responsible plant physiologists believe that the reports of socalled “mummy seed" germination are fables, for these remarkable germinations" have not been repeated under tests by reputable scientists. The usual reaction is for seeds to crumble to dust when moistened. rather than show any signs of life Nevertheless, the story is one which has obtained a aride circulation, and will always bob up on occasions such as this

During this spring I was greatly impressed with the lovely display of primulas growing in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. What is my chance of growing them in Canterbury? (Miss E.L.P.. St. Martins.) There are displays of these plants each spring in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, in the small woodland garden near the Nurses' Home. However they are not as easy to grow in the drier conditions here as one would wish. The situation you can provide has the greatest influence on your likelihood of success. It should be moist and partially shaded overhead, with protection from drying winds If you cannot provide these conditions, then abandon your ideas. If you can provide them you will have a good display if you stick to the tougher sorts such as Primula helodoxa. japonica. pulverultenta and sikkimensis.