Romneya~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES

These gorgeous huge poppies are bloomin’ up The Holler!

Also known as the Matilija Poppy, these are the largest flowers in the poppy family,

and they are the largest native California flower.

The blooms are 8 inches in diameter,

and the bushes grow to about 10 feet in height,

They are a challenge to grow, but so worth the effort!

Cheers to you & Happy Mother’s Day from The Holler’s Romneya~

239 thoughts on “Romneya~”

  2. Delighted to see your photos as I love these gorgeous flowers. I saw a Romneya flower yesterday, there’s a plant on the outer edge of Dunedin Botanic Garden that I can see from the footpath. As I walked by I noticed there was ONE flower left! An autumn gift from nature as we move ever closer to winter here in New Zealand. Your photos are marvellous Cindy, wonderful you have these flowers in your garden!

    Reply

    1. How amazing is this! I have been to The Dunedin Botanic Garden, photographed extensively, saw our native cacti. I am thrilled there is Romneya growing there. There are very hard to grow in any spot they don’t choose πŸ˜‰

      Reply

      1. Their plant seems to have established well as I’ve seen it back in the season with plenty of beautiful blooms – hooray! I also shared a link on twitter, thanks for your lovely blog-post πŸ™‚

        Reply

  5. Why are they challenging to grow? Is it because of the size? I need to read up about them. Thank you for sharing, Cindy! Lovely pictures! They look like yellow fairies in white skirts, twirling away like a Sufi dancer.

    Reply

    1. Germinating the seeds is difficult. They like pine needle smoke. They are very sensitive plants and take lots of care to establish. There are only a few nurseries in California that actually sell them. They grow naturally by river beds, and have a deep root system that propagate under ground. They don’t appreciate being planted other places! დ

      Reply

  12. Pingback: Romneya~ β€” – Echoes in the Mist

    1. I so love creative bloggers!!! I have heard so many wonderful metaphors for these flower petals. They are Monroe’s dress billowing! Thank you for this marvelous imagery დ

      Reply

    1. Oh my goodness, yes! They do look like her dress. People criticized the wrinkles but I thought she looked so lovely. The seeds are very difficult to germinate. They like pine smoke. A blogger told me she saw them growing at The Dunedin Botanical Garden which I remember visiting. Maybe you can contact them and ask about trying to get some seeds to cultivate. I would be fascinated to hear how this goes and thrilled if you do grow them! დ

      Reply

  55. Happy Mother’s Day, Cindy! These are stunning. They remind me of a parachute that’s been opened (or maybe a car’s airbag). Hard to imagine flowers that immense!

    Reply

    1. It is the most difficult plant I have grown. It is so picky and delicate. It takes a couple of years to establish and if you accomplish that, it develops runners and will thrive. But, now the gophers have found them! I put them in ‘gopher proof’ mesh, but the gophers apparently didn’t read the ‘gopher proof’ fine print! πŸ˜‰

      Reply

  75. I really enjoyed this celebration of the Romneya coulteri, Cindy. They are such a distinct flower with their huge size and fried egg appearance. Your photos do a great job of capturing the crepe-like texture of them. Beautiful poppy.

    Reply

    1. Do you know what I love so much? The amazing metaphors bloggers use to describe these flowers. It so clearly demonstrates the creative talent of our blogging community. I love being part of this. They ARE living silk dresses! Thank you my friend & stay safe and well დ

      Reply

    1. Thank you. I have a feeling the poppies will survive. The poppies are surrounded by gopher proof herbs. And I planted some more on the tops. Gophers hate herbs with their meals! πŸ˜‰

      Reply

  88. Are they native or planted in your garden? It is gorgeous a bit north in the Bay Area at my mother’s home (though I have added 12 bags of mulch around plantings to protect the soil from direct sunlight… always a gardener, you know) – Oscar

    Reply

  92. Hello Cindy, this is Charly Priest of the then blog Crazy Life, donΒ΄t know if you rember me, had to get of wordpress for quite some time and now with a new account… obviously, anyways glad to reconnect with the wordpress familly.
    Beautiful photos as always and interesting to know it grows up to 10 feet, certainly has to be a workout to take care of them (I worked as a gardner in my other life), glad to recconect with quite a few of you good people and really happy to have found you.
    Have a great day, Charly.

    Reply

    1. It is wonderful to hear from you! I am so glad you are back. Of course I remember you. I will head over now to your new blog. Welcome Home! დდ

      Reply

  94. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blogger Weekly 16th May 2022 – #Images Tofino Photography, Robbie Cheadle, Cindy Knoke, #Exploration Jennie Fitzkee, #Guest The Story Reading Ape, #Guest Marcia Meara | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

  96. Hello Cindy! I apologize for this very late revisit. You have found another wonderful and gorgeous flower. Dont beat me,but at the first sight the white part looked like for me like a lost hankerchief. Lol I have some patterns in my mind, and its hard to erase them instantely. πŸ˜‰ Thanks for sharing these impressions, and have a great week! xx Michael

    Reply

    1. We have Cali poppies too, self sowing all over The Holler. Love them. My great grandfather was a poppy planation owner long ago in Bulgaria. Hopefully not an opium supplier დ

      Reply

  101. Your certainly know how to capture light. Impressive poppies. I just saw white poppies somewhere in the “wild” between Cuernavaca and Mexico city. Wondering whether they were not opium poppies. There are clandestine plantations everywhere in Mexico… What “brand” are yours?

    Reply

Leave a Reply