MARTIN from Middlesbrough has seen some blue poppies in a gardening catalogue and wants to know a bit more about them so that he can decide if he should try to grow some in his garden, which is south facing and consisting mainly of clay soil.

THE beautiful blue poppy belongs to the mecanopsis family. They tend to be thought of as difficult plants found only in specialist plant collections and it is a reputation that they mostly deserve. There are fewer than 50 species and about 20 of these are available from seed catalogues or commercially. They need to be grown from seed as many of them die after flowering.

There are two main types of mecanopsis available to buy. The first is a group with three related species in cultivation, all with good blue flowers.

These all die after flowering as biennials.

These are M. horridula (all shades of blue), latifolia (pale duck-egg blue) and aculeata (shot silk blue/purple).

The other species is an evergreen with ground-hugging winter rosettes of leaves up to a metre across and although they may take up to six years to flower, when they do it is with a spike of flowers that can rise 8ft (2.5m) above ground level. The glorious display is followed by the death of the plant.

Seed needs sowing in early spring in either a soil-less peat based compost or in a home-made mixture with leafmould, peat, grit and dried sieved sphagnum moss in equal proportions.

It should be sown very thinly and lightly covered. The trays should be kept lightly shaded from strong sun and are better in gentle warmth that does not exceed 18 to 20°C and is cooler at night.

Germination is usually rapid or not at all.

Seedlings need the gentlest of treatment and only very lightly pressing into the new compost. They should be rapidly grown on in gentle warmth and potted on into four-inch pots (10cm) when they are about one inch (2.5cm) across. The new compost should contain good nutrient levels and soil-less composts can be excellent.

The plants should then be grown on in light shade and with as humid an atmosphere as possible for the rest of spring and early summer and ideally planted out in the flowering site by early August.

All the species require feeding and relish plenty of rich organic matter incorporated into the soil. Nearly all species crave humid conditions in summer and can wilt in long periods of hot sunshine.

My inclination is that Martin’s garden will be too exposed to the sun, and being on clay, may not have sufficient rich organic constituent to sustain the delicate environment which the blue poppy prefers. How about trying another type of poppy, Papaver Orientale Patty’s Plum, which is just as bold, is a stunning shiny purple, and more importantly, is very easy to grow.

■ Brigid co-presents the BBC Tees Green, Gardening and Great Outdoors show every Sunday from 11-2pm.

Questions can be answered on the day by emailing brigid.press@bbc.co.uk anytime during the week, or texting 07786-200995 and phoning 01642- 225511 during the show. Written queries can be addressed to Brigid at Lazy DayzPlant Centre, Farm Road, Houghall, Durham, DH1 3SG