FREE SEEDS: DELPHINIUMS/WHAT’S ON
How to grow these statuesque perennials
IN the children’s AA Milne poem The Dormouse and the Doctor, a little mouse was happy as pie living in a bed of ‘delphiniums blue and geraniums red’ – and I can quite see why.
Delphiniums offer up one of the most spectacular sights of the summer, their tall pastel spires standing to attention in the border, and doing further duty as an excellent cut flower for indoors. They are loved for their longevity – remove early flowers after blooming and you will get a second flush later in summer.
This week’s free seeds are for ‘Pacific Giants Mixed’ that flower from pure white to violet and will return year after year. Growing to 84in (210cm) they will be the stand-out celebrities of the garden and are relatively easy to grow.
Delphiniums like well-drained, fertile soil (they are hungry plants) and are a magnet for slugs when they first start to shoot, so make sure you protect them.
For next year’s flowers, sow seeds thinly into trays or modules of fresh seed compost (I’m using biodegradable cardboard modules). Cover with a thin layer of compost, label and cover and set them somewhere light and warm.
The seedlings can be potted on when they are large enough to handle. Harden them off and plant out in the summer.
Turn to P32 for Graham Rice’s in-depth look at the best delphiniums to grow.