Re: Hunnemannia fumariifolia

I also planted some Hunnemannia just about a year ago with penstemons and 
eriogonums.  They got the benefit of the El Nino winter rains, and an 
watering about once a month during the summer, when the daytime high was 
a fairly consistent 29 degrees C, except for a few weeks in August when 
it bumped up to around 34.   There wasn't a problem with them 
overwintering, as the thermometer barely touched 0 degrees C this winter 
(not even enough to damage the banana trees in the yard.)  Unlike Loren 
from Oregon, though, I just stuck them in the regular rich, deep adobe 
soil here in the Santa Clara Valley.  The three plants bloomed 
sporadically from late May through late August.  Right now they look 
somewhat ragged, maybe 30cm high with a tuft of foliage at the top.  With 
the return of the rainy season, there's been a few volunteer seedlings 
that have sprouted in the past few weeks.

As far as looks go, the bright yellow Hunnemannia looked really garish 
next to the hot fuschia pink of Pentstemon spectabilis.  Especially with 
a few orange California poppies a few feet away, it was  a very 
mid-1970's color combination...

Our local University of California field station did a trial of 
Hunnemannia and other flowers for cutting, you can see the results of the 
trials at http://www.mastergardeners.org/recommend/cutflowers.html

For more information on the poppy family, this is a good reference:  
http://www.intranet.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/poppy/

Dan McKean
San Jose, California
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