Garden Plant: Matilija Poppy
Matilija Poppy
Product Description: Matilija Poppy
Sunny Side Up!
We were hiking along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains looking out over Los Angeles as the sun was rising. The city was just waking up – or possibly just going to sleep. It is LA after all. It was a gorgeously clear morning and we could see all the way to the sun glinting off of the Pacific Ocean. We turned a bend in the trail to find a place to sit and drink the hot coffee we had brought in our thermos.
Suddenly, we saw them and they took our breath away. There was a stand of the most enormous flowers. The plants were easily 8 feet tall and seemed to go on forever wide. Each flower was like a sunny-side up fried egg made out of crepe paper and they practically glowed in the rising sun.
We now know what most Angelinos already knew – the Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) is one of the most stunning West Coast natives to grace the wild. They have been \’cultivated’ in the last decade and now make outstanding garden plants, with a few caveats.
Matilija Poppies will let you know when they are supremely happy (anything from sandy soil to clay works as long as it is very dry in the summer) by growing – a lot. These plants spread by rhizomes, so you can have a yard full of these beauties before you know it. But what a beautiful garden it will be!
Matilija Poppy loves the West Coast, but we have heard reports that they will do well in any garden Zone 6 and up, even thriving in some places in England where roses, fog and sheep are more prevalent. They are poppies, to be sure.
If you are looking for a breathtaking flower that is unique, native and sure to be a conversation starter, give this deciduous beauty a try, West Coast or not.
- Beautiful, big white and yellow summer flowers
- Great cut flowers
- American native