Meconopsis betonicifolia - Himalayan Poppy

Hi Janey...my ones thrive and multiply nicely in the shade among my azaleas and rhododendrons (small!) - with lots of leaf litter and moisture retaining loam. I never do anything to cover them up and indeed they survived last winter - which was a real tester up here! Personally I wouldn't coddle them in pots and certainly not in a greenhouse - they might well rot off if they get too warm...remember they are mountain plants.

Thanks Alz.....I can't decide whether to plant them amongst my azalias.....or whether to put the pots there, I don't want to lose them before I've seen any flowers....Lol!

Those plants look great - and you have obviously done a super job so far. But if it was me - I would plant them out ASAP - to give them every chance to get established this year. Watch out for slugs and snails of course. If you keep them in their pots - don't molly-coddle them - plunge the pots in a cold frame to keep the worst of the rain off but not too cosy!
If you really want - you can use the wise gardener's "belt and braces" method - and put half of them out and keep half of them in their pots - suitably plunged - and then let us all know next year how you got on!

Hi Janey remember these are plants that grow in the Himalayas so anything the weather in this country can throw at them is not going to phase them. The reason that mec. flower heads hang down is to keep the rain out of them - seriously, that is true. As they are fully herbaceous they are much better off in the ground. The only mec. casualty we have had in recent years is one that mummy cat to a dislike to and sprayed to death. They self seed happily and we had a large yellow mec. nepalensis plant itself in the daftest position between a crinodendron and an acer. As they take years to flower and are monocarpic we just left it alone, hopefully we will get viable seed off it later in the year.

Thank you both for such good advice, I'll plant most of them and keep a couple in pots....., the thing is my garden is walled so doesn't have the airiness of a mountain top Lol......still the little Cambrian Poppy is quite happy here and still in flower.....:o)
Hopefully next year I'll be able to show you both some great pics.....:o)

Good show, Janey ...will look forward to that! We are both of course up in blasted (technical term for blown to bits ha ha!) Bonnie Scotland...so know how to survive...jolly well have to! If the winds don't get you - the haar (thick on-shore mist/fog) jolly well does on the east coast...even in the height of summer ...come to think of it - usually in the height of summer! If your Cambrian poppies are happy - your Himalayan ones should thrive too and given time will colonise nicely....they are tougher than they look ....Enjoy!