Matilija poppy

Has anyone had experience propagating these? Finally have a plant thriving and would like to have a few as insurance against g***ers (shhh...don't want them to know).
I've never done stem cuttings - would that work?

Thanks.

Hi Kaperc, I'm sorry, without referring back to other posts, I may have your name wrong...was it Kathleen?
Anyway, I have a large stand of matilijas, been there about 20 years. I'm lucky they're still there. First, my husband is NOT a gardener. Years ago I mentioned that I hadn't had time to cut the matilijas back, and came home to find out that he had interpreted that as "dig them out", which he had tried his best to do.....I'm sure there are still echoes of my crying somewhere.......THEY CAME BACK! These guys are pretty tough. I've never bothered to try from seed, since I read so much about what a bother it is, but I do dig the new groups that come up from spreading, usually in Nov-Dec, but this year we had later rains, so dug some about a month ago and they still look to be doing okay. My first gallon I'm sure was planted in wire, but they have spread and spread and I've never noticed signs of the gophers bothering them. I don't think they do well from cuttings, but could be wrong. If the ones I dug recently do well, you're welcome to one, will bring to RU if you let me know.

Sherry

This message was edited May 18, 2006 11:09 AM

Don't worry about the g***ers. They eat everything in my garden but the Matilija poppies.

I think they're ridiculously difficult to grow from seed. I remember hearing something about digging a trench, throwing the seeds in there, pouring in some gasoline, and setting the trench on fire. Luckily, I found one plant at a local nursery (Harmony Farms) a couple of years ago. That one plant has now become about 20 plants.

Two years ago I thought I'd try Romneya from seed. Thought it would be fun....boy was I wrong. Planted the seed in a wooden flat wetted it for a week then lit a fire of mesquite charcoal and put the hot coals on the flat and kept the fire going for a couple of hours.....Well, long story short, the wooden flat disintegrated, I steamed the seed to death, and almost burned up a curious doggie.

I've got it growing in our creekbed that is loaded with gophers. They don't seem to bother it, and our gophers eat everything....lol. But in Cardiff, I had them on the canyon rim and the gophers seemed to have a special day of the week when Romneya was the menu item of choice....Maybe you have some Encinitas transplanted gophers...lol.

Stem cuttings (I've tried them), don't take, but root cuttings take pretty easily. One of the tricks is to put some of the native soil they're established in into the potting mix as there is important microbial activity in soils where it establishes itself. So put a little of that soil into the potting mix and your success with propagation will increase noticeably.

best of luck,
don

Don,
See, I kinda think this is why I never tried from seed!
Sherry

Well, heck, this was one useful thread! Thanks everyone for your help and saving me a lot of trouble. I wondered about splitting, as my little dried up stub from last year has spread pretty good. We did plant it in a basket, though, so I'll have to see if it's grown out of it.

Sherry, thanks for the offer - if you have one going spare, I would love it. I just can't seem to find anything to bring to the roundup and didn't realize the seeds were such a bother, thought maybe I could share some. It's such a beautiful flower. We still have a good third of our lot in bare dirt, so there's plenty of room.

And yes, it's Kathleen, or Kaperc, or K...(but not Kathy). :-)

Kaperc,
1 matilija set aside for you, wiil watch them closely to make sure at least one makes it!
Sherry

Thanks a bunch, Sherry.

wcgypsy - I have a girlfriend in Fallbrook for whom I have been trying to get matilija poppies for years. She was burnt out in that fire storm 4 years ago and just got into a new house built on the old property. My vacation in SoCal is just about over and I am heading back to Connecticut. Is there some way I could buy some poppies from you and get you to not only deliver them - but plant them for her in her yard? I know this is a lot to ask - but she is not able to plant herself these days and having the poppies would really "make her day".

A YankeeCat,
I would love to, but they need to be dug in around Nov-Dec and I only dug up 3-4. One is promised to kaperc and if the others have made it they're promised to drdon. The other thing is that it seems better to hold them in their pots, or bumped up to larger and planted out in the fall. Planted this time of year there's a bit of a problem with giving them just enough water to keep them going without overwatering and having them die. I would be glad to dig some for her in Nov. Sorry to hear she was caught in the fire. What's her name? I may know her, I've been here 23 years.
P.S. Don't know if you're currently around Fallbrook locale, but Las Pilitas usually has romneya.

This message was edited Jun 21, 2006 1:15 PM

I posted a note to your Daves Garden mail.