Jimmy Bayne

M. Jimmy Bayne

Meconopsis ‘Jimmy Bayne’
George Sherriff Group. MG No 1.
Named by E. Stevens, 1997. Registered by The Meconopsis Group, 2000.
Award: AM 2005.

Spreading young leaves showing red -purple pigmentation and dense hairs dense hairs ESSpreading young leaves showing red-purple pigmentation and dense hairs. ES.

A single leaf showing regular teeth and a rounded apexA single leaf showing
regular teeth and a
rounded apex.

The bowl shaped flower with a smooth or slightly undulating edge. Two more flowers to come from the false whorlThe bowl-shaped flower
with a smooth or slightly
undulating edge. Two
more flowers to come
from the false whorl.

Ellipsoid fruit capsule covered in short bristles. ES.Ellipsoidal fruit
capsule covered
in short bristles.
ES.

Perhaps without Jimmy Bayne the Meconopsis Group would never have started. In 1982 Evelyn Stevens was given a Meconopsis, which was ‘better’ than the M. baileyi she was already growing, by a builder friend, after whom the plant was named. A root ball of the original plant had been found in a Dunblane garden in 1962. Evelyn took her plant to a Meconopsis workshop held at RBGE in 1986 but it could not be identified. Evelyn then named it ‘Jimmy Bayne’.  Other clones also needed identification, leading to the founding of The Meconopsis Group, which held its first meeting at RBGE in September 1998.

Description

The four overlapping petals form a nodding or half-nodding, elegant bowl-shaped flower with a smooth or slightly undulating edge. There are usually two to three blue to mauve blue flowers arising from the false whorl. The stamens are 16-18 mm long. The sturdy style ends in a prominent stigma. The fruit capsule is ellipsoidal and covered with short bristles.

The broad emerging leaves are covered with pale ginger hairs and have red-purple pigmentation, which fades as the leaves mature. The basal leaves have a long petiole with regular teeth on either side and a rounded apex. The stem leaves are clasping with broad bases. The whole plant has a neater and less robust appearance than other members of the George Sherriff Group.

Meconopsis ‘Jimmy Bayne’ is essentially sterile and should be propagated by division. It is widely available from specialist nurseries.

M. Jimmy Bayne

The elegant back of the flower of M. ‘JimmyBayne’.

M. Jimmy Bayne

The elegant flower of M. ‘JimmyBayne’.