Yesterday's Flowers for Today's Gardens

Search Results for: Delphinium

  • Delphinium tricorne Dwarf larkspur, Spring larkspur Z 4-8

    OUT OF STOCK – Available to order in Spring only Spring ephemeral of blue delphinium elf-cap spikes. Substitute these for tulips, a favorite food of deer and rabbits...

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    OUT OF STOCK – Available to order in Spring only

    Spring ephemeral of blue delphinium elf-cap spikes. Substitute these for tulips, a favorite food of deer and rabbits

    Size: 18-24” – 6-9”
    Care: sun to shade in moist well-drained to moist soil
    Native: Pennsylvania to Iowa, south to Alabama and Oklahoma and states in between
    Wildlife Value: food for hummingbirds and butterflies; deer & rabbit resistant.

    Collected by André Michaux c. 1800. Cherokee used this for heart ailments and reported that it makes cows intoxicated and they die. The name tricorne comes from the 3-cornered shape of its seeds, like the shape of colonial hats with brims turned up on three sides. This is breathtakingly beautiful but slow to grow.  It is also an ephemeral and dies back after going to seed so mark it or have a good memory where it is so you don’t dig into it planting something else. It comes back in spring.

  • Delphinium x formosum ‘Belladonna’ Garland delphinium Z 4-8

    ARCHIVED Note: This is a plant not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use. June & repeat in September pale sky blue graceful, short spikes...

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    ARCHIVED

    Note: This is a plant not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

    June & repeat in September pale sky blue graceful, short spikes

    Size: 2- 3’ x 12”
    Care: Sun well-drained soil. Do not cut back in fall. Delphiniiums have hollow stems where moisture will collect and kill the plant (crown rot) over winter.

    Delphinium, named by Dioscorides, is Greek for “dolphin.” In 1597 Gerard wrote that the Delphinium leaf paralyzed scorpions and all venomous beasts. D. x formosum called “the finest garden hybrid” of the early 19th century. It was “raised by Mr. G. Moore, a nurseryman of East Dereham, Norfolk.” George Phillips, (1933). ‘Belladonna’ hybridized in 1800’s as cutting flowers. Blooms last long in the vase. In the July 1872 issue of “the Garden” Wm. Robinson called this “too seldom seen” and “a great ornament.”

  • Delphinium vestitum syn. D. chitralicum syn. D. rectivenium, qian lie cui que in China, Clothed Delphinium, Flowers of India Z 6-10

    ARCHIVED Note: This is a plant not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use. Spikes of purple-blue with deep black centers rise above large, rounded...

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    ARCHIVED

    Note: This is a plant not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

    Spikes of purple-blue with deep black centers rise above large, rounded leaves. Blooms in August-Sept

    Size: 24” x10”
    Care: full sun to part shade
    Native: Himalayas
    Wildlife Value: attracts bees & butterflies

    Nathaniel Wallich had already described Delphinium vestitum but the name was validly published by John Forbes Royle in 1834.

Common Names of Plants

…flabellata v pumila Dwarf fothergilla Fothergilla gardenia Dwarf goatsbeard Aruncus aethusifolius Dwarf Larkspur, Delphinium tricorne Dwarf lilac Leptodermis oblonga Dwarf meadowrue, Chinese meadowrue Thalictrum ichangense Dwarf red hot poker Kniphofia…

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  • Delphinium exaltatum Tall Larkspur, American larkspur Z 4-8

    Fabulous, not because of a big flower-head, but because it grows everywhere with no special care, graceful lavender or purple spikes of trumpets on tall stems in July to August...

    $12.75/bareroot

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    Fabulous, not because of a big flower-head, but because it grows everywhere with no special care, graceful lavender or purple spikes of trumpets on tall stems in July to August and beyond.

    Size: 3-4' x 9"
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil. Withstands winds, no staking needed. Not fussy. Let the seeds drop & you’ll get babies.
    Native: Pennsylvania to No. Carolina west to Ohio & Alabama
    Wildlife Value: attract hummingbirds

    Delphinium, named by Dioscorides, is Greek for “dolphin” due to the resemblance of the flower shape.  According to William Aiton (1731-1793), early director at Kew Royal Garden, Quaker nurseryman and explorer John Bartram (1699-1777) sent it to England.  London’s Chelsea Physic gardener Philip Miller grew it in 1758. Jefferson planted this at Monticello in the NW quarter of the outer border in March 1811.

  • Delphinium grandiflorum ‘Blue Butterfly’ Z 4-8

    ARCHIVED Note: This is a plant not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use. Picture a dangling cornflower blue elf cap for the flower. Blooms...

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    ARCHIVED

    Note: This is a plant not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

    Picture a dangling cornflower blue elf cap for the flower. Blooms in June and repeats if deadheaded.

    Size: 12-18" x 9"
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil.
    Native: Siberia, China & Japan
    Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirds

    Dr. Johann Ammann sent the seeds of this Delphinium from the Imperial Academy at St. Petersburg to Peter Collinson in England in 1736. ‘Blue Butterfly’ selected by 1900. Gertrude Jekyll, mother of the mixed perennial garden valued ‘Blue Butterfly’ for its “pure blue,” late 1800’s.

  • Delphinium elatum Perennial larkspur Z 2-7

    OUT OF STOCK – Email for Availability Spikes of blue to purple single, elf-capped shaped blossoms with black eyes in June, repeating in August-September. Sturdy stems. One of internationally known...

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    OUT OF STOCK – Email for Availability

    Spikes of blue to purple single, elf-capped shaped blossoms with black eyes in June, repeating in August-September.  Sturdy stems.    One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)

    Size: 4’ x 12”
    Care: part sun in moist well-drained soil.
    Native: Siberia & central Europe

    Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, c. 1600. One of the parents of today’s border hybrids.  Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.

April 11, 2018

Round Two – Happy Birthday Mr. President

…anemone Aquilegia canadensis Canada columbine Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly weed Calycanthus floridus Carolina allspice Centaurea macrocephala Globe centaurea Ceanothus americanus New Jersey Tea Clematis virginiana Virgin’s bower Anemone sylvestris Windflower Delphinium

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People in Plant History

…and strong enough to resist winds without staking. He created it in Delphinium ‘Foerster’s Hybrids.’ Robert Fortune (1812-1880) The 1st systematic plant hunter to introduce live plants from China, this…

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February 15, 2018

“Happy Birthday Mr. President”

…Lilac Flowers Delphinium ajacis Larkspur Digitalis purpurea Foxglove Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal flower Phlox divaricata Sweet William Phlox paniculata Garden phlox Yucca filamentosa Yucca Additional resources: Washington’s Gardens at Mount Vernon…

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