Delphiniums
Overview:
Delphiniums are up there with foxgloves, as some of the most whimsical magical garden flowers. They give that instant cottage feels to the garden, with their striking columnar colors of blue, white, and lavender tones. In Greek myology, this flower translates to ‘Dolphins’ based on their petal structure and color. Their flowers range in height from 1' to 4' and range pastel colors.
Starting seeds:
Starting these seeds is why I gave this plant a 3 / 5 adventure level. It's HARD especially here in the Phoenix Valley. They need cooler temperatures to germinate (below 55 is ideal), and they take forever to get a sizeable seedling to place into the landscape.
If you are feeling adventurous, purchase seeds during the summer and place them into your fridge In July/ August. I Place my grow lights outside the protected area in November and sow my delphiniums in trays. They can take up to 12-16 weeks, yes weeks, after sowing to become sizeable plants to transplant. For this reason, I usually purchase in plugs to save time and sanity.
Check out my seed starting supply list for all the goodies.
When to plant outdoors:
October- December are ideal planting times for Delphiniums, I've transplanted them up until mid-January with success.
Spacing:
9-12” apart
Sun:
Full sun, 6 -8+ more hours per day.
Flower Support:
Advised -These flowers can become massive. And because of that, they will need support. Usually, bamboo stakes or Peony cages support them before the buds open is optimal. can be used if growing these in the field. Hortnova netting can be used as well in the field, especially on the taller varieties - like the ‘Belladonna’ series.
Fertilizing: Delphiniums are heavy feeders. Give balanced granular fertilizer to encourage growth in young plants. Weekly liquid fertilizing is also advised for optimal blooms. My favorites are Maxsea and Neptunes Harvest.
Delphiniums are short lived perennials in zines 3-8. They require a bit of a cool period to really thrive in the garden year to year, so we typically treat them as annuals here in our zone 9b garden.
Favorite Varieties:
Belladonna series
Belladonna delphiniums are a great airy option perfect for your any flower arrangements. We grew these a lot when we sold to florists. Typically delphiniums are big a fluffy, great for the garden, but can be too big if trying to mix into bouquets. Belladonna offers the perfect blue color for any spring cut flower garden.
Gaurdian blue offers a deep rich dark blue to violet shade. Almost looks like tye dye!
Delphinium Candle shades:
These offer towering bloom spikes in the garden. They are slightly taller than the guardian series topping out at 4' tall. Lavender shades offers the perfect light purple to mauve shade. Guardian blue is a softer solid color, that is the perfect pastel for spring.
We use peony cages to keep delphiniums up right in all of our containers. They are the perfect circular shade to seamlessly support your blooms! Simply install the cage before the bloom spikes appear (January is a great time to do this) and they stems will grow through the cage. We highly recommend supporting all of your tall delphiniums. (pictured above - delphinium Guardian 'lavender')
Did you know delphiniums also come in dwarf varieties? We trialed Delphinium Delphina Pink White Bee this past spring and she was the cutest addition to the border garden. She maxed out at 12" making her a great addition to the container garden. We like to pair her with pansies, stock, alyssum, poppies and more for a soft romantic border.
This dwarf variety also comes in shades of blue, purple, and white. We loved the pink addition to the boarder garden. Its not always common to find pink delphiniums, so we instantly gravitated towards her. Wether you are growing the tall glorious delphiniums, or the compact varieties, they are sure going to add a whimsical charm to your spring cottage garden!
