Roses are red and poppies are blue.
Fall in love with those poppies at Longwood Gardens if you wish.
But come April, they’ll probably ghost you.
The rare blue-poppies that flower at Longwood Gardens are back in bloom and on display inside the Conservatory through the end of March, Longwood announced.
Yes, that only leaves you a few days to witness see these precious flowers in all their sky-blue glory.
Here’s what you need to know before you go.
How do you I get tickets?
Timed admission tickets are required to see the blue-poppies if you’re a non-member. Time slots on weekdays usually are available on each half hour from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
You can reserve your tickets at tickets.longwoodgardens.org.
How’d Longwood get blue-poppies?
These vibrant plants were once considered a folktale. But nowadays, people discovered these storied flowers are for real.
The blue-poppies (Meconopsis “Lingholm”) are native to high elevations of the Himalayan Mountains and usually not cultivated outside their natural habitat.
“Meconopsis” is the genus of the rare flower. The cultivar, “Lingholm,” produces large flowers that average 4 inches in diameter.
How many flowers are blue?
Blue is one of the most coveted flower colors across the globe.
“Biologists have estimated that fewer than 10% of flowering plants have blue flowers and even fewer have truly blue leaves,” Jourdan Cole, spokesperson for Longwood Gardens, said.
This year Longwood combined their blue-poppies with contrasting warm colors that include fragrant Freesia and Genista, Cole added.
The growing process for blue-poppies
Longwood’s research team became interested in raising their own blue-poppies when a graduate student, Shannon Still, was writing his thesis on the plant in 2002.
“Our plants were grown in Alaska and shipped here in October to complete their dormancy in our cooler,” Cole said.
The plant also was potted and grown in a very cool greenhouse under high intensity lights to simulate a mountain summer starting on the shortest days of the year, she explained.
Once in a blue moon, these flowers pop up and dazzle spectators. Right now, the stars are aligned. But again, this surreal sight is only on tap for a limited time.
The blue-poppy details
Longwood Gardens (1001 Longwood Road, near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania) will host the blue-poppies through Friday, March 31.
The gardens are open from Wednesdays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Friday, March 31. Hours change starting April 1 and gardens will be open until 6 p.m. through May 10.
Admission is $25 for adults, $22 for seniors (age 62 or older) and college students (with valid ID), $18 for active or retired U.S. military (with valid ID), $13 for students (ages 5 to 8 or with valid student ID) and free for ages 4 or younger. Group rates are available. For more details, visit longwoodgardens.org or call (610) 388-1000.
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.
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