DELPHINIUM

One of the flowers celebrated as flower of the month for July in modern times is the delphinium, a regal perennial that one tends to think of in terms of tall, blue spires highlighting the early summer garden. This popular image is typified in the Pacific Giant series, a traditional, majestic delphinium that grows anywhere from four to six feet tall depending upon the site and the degree of luxury provided by the soil conditions. The long, graceful spikes are filled with large flowers, each bearing a tufted centre "bee". Common varieties Here's a sampler of Pacific Giant varieties: King Arthur, royal violet with a white bee; Black Knight, dark violet; Blue Bird, medium blue with white bee; Guinevere, pink-lavender with a white bee; Galahad, clear white; Summer Skies, light blue with white bee. Pacific Giant plants are available at garden outlets in early spring. Or they can be grown from seed sown in February to March, or July to August.

Delphinium elatum Cameliard

Lesser-known varieties Breeding in recent years has concentrated on developing delphiniums that are shorter, to fit in with the ever-shrinking size of home gardens and also to reduce the need for staking. A scaled-down, wind-tolerant version of the Pacific Giants is the Magic Fountain series, which yields blooms of similar size and beauty in a mixture of blue shades on sturdy plants around two feet tall. Another, quite different shorter delphinium is Bella Donna, which features a looser arrangement of flowers on graceful spikes. The plants are more branching than the Pacific Giant types, the stems wiry. Bella Donna grows just three to four feet tall, and produces a succession of flower spikes in many shades of blue, with some white and purple, from early summer to autumn provided the spent spikes are removed. Thompson & Morgan carries this variety. For those seeking the thrill of flowery adventure, there are the species delphiniums. Thompson & Morgan and Park Seed both list the brilliant scarlet Delphinium cardinale and the bright yellow D. zalil. Thompson & Morgan lists D. requinii, a soft blue and grey-flowered species that Graham Stuart Thomas in "Perennial Garden Plants" describes as "a charming plant", less tricky to grow than many of the species. Culture The popular garden varieties of delphinium thrive and bloom in the most vivid colors over the longest period of time in full sun, with a well-drained but enriched, moisture-retentive soil that is not highly acidic. An abundance of organic matter in the form of compost and/or composted manure mixed deeply into the soil along with bone meal before planting helps to ensure these prime delphinium conditions. The taller delphiniums need to be secured loosely to supports. Deadheading by removing spent flowerspikes near their bases, immediately above an outward-facing leaf, encourages the production of secondary flowerstems. Delphiniums, as Graham Stuart Thomas puts it, are "like caviar to slugs". Setting traps or a slug barrier around the plants is especially important in late winter as the new shoots begin to emerge.

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