The Meconopsis Group was founded in 1998 with the aim of clarifying the correct identities of the big perennial blue poppies. At that time many of these plants were being grown and sold under incorrect names; the situation was confused. An identification trial was set up at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for assessment. Some cultivars were quickly identified and correctly named, but it soon became apparent that many garden hybrids existed and that many distinct plants did not have cultivar names.
After careful observation over many years by the Trials and Assessment Sub-Committee of The Meconopsis Group a large number of distinct clones have been recognised. Selected forms have been given formal cultivar names by The Meconopsis Group, and others have been named by nurseries and some other growers. Many of these cultivars have subsequently been given plant awards by the RHS Joint Rock Garden Plant Committee (now the RHS Alpine and Rock Garden Plant Committe). The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) has been given to some of the best cultivars for growing in gardens.
The work continues. The Meconopsis Group has a Trials and Assessment Sub-Committee, which studies cultivars in gardens. One aim is to see whether any cultivar is being grown under several different names. It assesses new cultivars, and recommends registration of those that are distinct and of high quality.
Comparison of three George Sherriff Group cultivars: left what is believed to be Meconopsis 'Branklyn', centre Meconopsis 'Dorothy Renton' and right Meconopsis 'Galloway Skies'.
The International Meconopsis Register and Checklist is a comprehensive list of registered cultivars, with historical information, details of awards, and full descriptions. It was first complied by Dr Geoff Hill - an enormous task, meticulously carried out. It also contains information about other names that have been used, but not registered.
The first completed document was submitted to the ISHS Commission for Nomenclature and Cultivar Registration in 2020, but it is now possible to update it continually from the database of The Meconopsis Group. You can view the full current version, or you can download the 2022 version as a .pdf file, 37 pages, 0.5 Mb).
The introduction, without all the descriptions, is full of useful background information, including explanations of the groups used to classify cultivars: Meconopsis George Sherriff Group, Meconopsis Infertile Blue Group, and Meconopsis Fertile Blue Group. You can view this introduction here.
The Meconopsis Group keeps a list of all Meconopsis names.
Valid names of wild species and their subspecies and varieties are listed in the Classification table. There is a link from each name to the Species Gallery, which has many photographs of plants, wild and cultivated.
The names of registered cultivars are listed here. Each one has a link to its individual entry in the International Meconopsis Register and Checklist, and where appropriate a link to its page in the Cultivar Gallery, with fine photographs and descriptive text.
There is also a list of all the other names - invalid, duplicates, extinct plants, unregistered, etc. Many of them have entries in the International Meconopsis Register and Checklist. If there is such an entry, there is a link to it.
