Flowers from an Old California Legend

By Maureen Gilmer
DIY--Do It Yourself Network

It is the heroine's white flower in "The Mask of Zorro," this lesser-known Matilija poppy of California. But few remember the source of the name that dates back to a Spanish mission legend.

A young girl was stolen from her tribe by Spanish raiders seeking laborers for the mission. A battle ensured and she believed her father, Matilija, chief of the Chumash, was killed along with her lover. Thinking herself an orphan, she lived at the mission until discovering that both men had indeed survived, but lived in hiding.

That night she fled in darkness back to her home, Ojai, the place of the eagle. There she found the men in a sheltered canyon, but the soldiers followed her to the hideout. The next morning they slaughtered every living soul in the renegade band -- except for Matilija's daughter. She lay protected under the body of her lover. After the Spanish left, she dragged her beloved's body up to the highest peak to nurse his wounds, but he died.

Years passed, and a stranger mounted the hill to gather the great white blossoms that crowned the crest. He found that they guarded the grave of two lovers. As the old text states, "Kind nature had woven the choicest of shrouds about the young form of the brave Indian girl. The wealth of the blossoms enveloped the sleeper, and no irreverent hand dared to pluck them away, lest the fair soul reflected in the white poppy leaves should flee from the earth and leave barren the Ojai, the fair nest. So, even so, the footsteps of the stranger retreated and left Matilija's poppy like sweet silent music to guard the flower-rimmed grave."

This beautiful story attests to Romneya coulteri's preference for high places extending all along the southern coastal ranges. There it is assured full sun, perfect drainage, minimal soil fertility and nocturnal air movement with moist Pacific fog. This bushy poppy thrives in fast-draining sandy or gravely soil. Their roots travel through this airy mix producing large stands from a single mother plant. If placed in heavy soils, even with amendments, the roots will likely rot over the first rainy season. Romneya's seed requires fire to germinate in high numbers, so most plants are started by root cuttings and offsets.

This poppy isn't fond of transplanting or root disturbance, so it doesn't pay to buy big plants. It's better to start off with numerous 1-gallon-sized plants with their easy-to-manage rootball.

Place Matilija poppy with morning to midday sun and protection from very hot dry winds. To enhance drainage, grow in loosely stacked, dry stone-walled raised beds. Fill these with a high percentage of coarse construction sand and organic matter blended into ordinary soils. It's not an exact science, but it is best to err on the side of too much sand than too little. The key to these plants is to water deeply the first year to encourage more extensive rooting, but once established you can back off

Few plants are as devilishly difficult to grow, or equally as tenacious once established.

And as with all poppies, enjoy its transient beauty, for none of them survive as cut flowers. Best of all, its great white blossoms literally leap out at you under the light of the full moon. And perhaps amid the flowers you will see the ghost of Matilija's daughter quietly weeping over the grave of her lover.

(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of "Weekend Gardening" on DIY-Do It Yourself Network. E-mail her at mo@moplants.com. For more information, visit: www.moplants.com or: www.DIYNetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)