I was really sad when the plant died. Light through those spikes was like pastel stained glass.

I was told "these do really well in the PNW".

Then I wondered why tray after tray of seedlings disappeared completely as soon as they went onto my porch to harden off.

Slugs!

But they avoided the adult plant.

Are you sure it was slugs? Mice do that too. They sure make a good cut flower.

I took this picture in 2009....I drove by this summer and the plant was in bloom but was a little smaller. Here in 5b-6 they survive sometimes and not other times.

I was originally hoping for a deep blue like yours, or a purple, but once I saw the sun coming through the pastel blue / pale lavender, I fell in love.

Here's the color range I might have gotten from this BI mix:
http://www.botanicalinterests....


>> Are you sure it was slugs? Mice do that too.

I'm not sure it was ONLY slugs, but I eventually made the connection to all the slug trails, probably when I found a slug still in one of the trays the next morning. And once I started using slug bait, they lasted long enough to be transplanted.

Maybe next spring I should try 1-2 mouse traps to see how many there are. My cat and all the neighborhood cats seem to be too lazy, or too old, to chase mice.

i was afraid that even if I tried wintersowing, slugs might squeeze through vent holes. But probably not mice. Not without gnawing a hole and leaving evidence!

I've had some delphiniums for many years. Some have been short lived but re-seeded. If I start them in January in the house they usually bloom the first year from seed. I also have one of the little larkspur type ones and it re-seeds but doesn't live over. The New Zealand Ones are the strongest stemmed ones for me, the other tall ones have to have support.
A couple of my favorites.





The last one is the little larkspur kind called blue mirror.

I love those! What is the name of the New Zealand kind? Blue Mirror is sweet.

I've been growing them for several years now and have very good luck with them. Mine are in full sun, meaning NO shade at all during the day. I always let them go to seed and shake the seed on the ground right where they're growing. I've heard they're rather short lived and I know it generally takes a year before they bloom, so I make sure there are plenty of new ones on the way by reseeding. I do stake mine, but it's very windy where we live.

This is my favorite and it about 6 years old. This year it had about 25 flower stalks and was around 6 feet tall. It's an incredible sight to see!

'Blue Lace'


These are two years old now.

'Royal Aspirations'........................................................'Pagan Purple' (it's by a 4 foot fence so you can see how tall it is)


I have several others too including a pink one. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of those.

I purchased most of mine on line from here: http://www.gracefulgardens.com... They are sold out for the year but keep them in mind for spring planting if you're interested. I highly recommend them!

If anyone is interested I will probably have some seed to share from 'Blue Lace', if you don't mind waiting a year to see flowers. (If they haven't all fallen to the ground by now, that is.) Just tree-mail me.

Edited to add that this website also has good info on growing them: http://www.gracefulgardens.com...

They won't grow there, Susan. LOL. The original post is someone in a place they won't grow either. They love it in Maine though. I'm pretty sure they like cooler zones like Lupines do.

I think you're right Clint, about them growing there. My sisters, who live in the suburbs of the twin cities, have a hard time growing them there in zone 5. I guess everybody has things in other zones that they are sad won't grow in their zone. I can grow beautiful Delphiniums but I over some beautiful varieties of dogwoods and Japanese Maples that people in warmer zones can grow but I can't.

We can grow Japanese Maples here. That's a plus!

clintbrown said:They won't grow there, Susan. LOL. The original post is someone in a place they won't grow either. They love it in Maine though. I'm pretty sure they like cooler zones like Lupines do.

Thanks.

I actually got a lupine to grow down here this year. Didn't bloom. Maybe next year.

There is such a thing as false lupine or redneck lupine, have you tried those? I think most of them are just Baptisia.

Never heard of them. I like Baptisia though too.

Check this out.

http://www.plantdelights.com/B...

Oh my, I so want a YELLOW baptisia!!!