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| Garden Layout - Plants - Delphiniums
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| I have 2 varieties of Delphiniums in my garden, and I wish I had the space for more of these most exquisite of summer plants. From early June until mid-July, they tower above the rest of the garden, and careful dead-heading can sometimes induce a second flush of flowers in September. They both enjoy a prime position, getting plenty of sun during the summer, and benefitting from a rich but well-drained soil. They are underplanted with daffodils and tulips for colour and interest in the spring. Once flowering has finished, they are dead-headed and superceded by the prostrate cotoneater that grows between them. |
 The two Delphiniums in June |
 Magic Fountain |
I immediately fell in love with the metallic-blue colour of this delphinium, Magic Fountain. It's flowers are almost purple, but tinged with a paler blue, and it grows to approximately 1 metre high. It generally produces about 7 or 8 heads each season. and they last for about 3 weeks, before fading. It is not the most vigorous of delphiniums, and I often wonder how it manages to produce such a stunning display from so few leaves. I suspect that it may be blighted by some form of fungus, or perhaps it's cat piss, because many of the lower leaves turn black as the season progresses. I've tried a few anti-fungal sprays, and protecting it from cat sporay with a membrane, but all to no avail. Still, it manages to put on a good show each year, so perhaps I'm worrying over nothing. |
| The second delphinium is Guinevere, a true stunner. It reaches 1.8m in height, and is heavy with sky-blue flowers from mid-June right through to the end of July. Each flower has a lilac coloured centre and most of the larger heads have numerous 'satellites' surrounding them. The flowers get to be so heavy that they have to be staked to prevent them from drooping. | |
| It produces 5 or 6 large heads of flowers each year, with 3 times that number of smaller, subsidiary satellite heads, and, like Magic Fountain above, can be persuaded into a second flush by dead-heading. However, this plant does not suffer from manky leaves as the Magic Fountain does, although it has been known for birds to roost on the giant flower towers, breaking the stem, but not, thankfully, killing the flowers. |  Guinevere |
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