I love flower gardens, front gardens, gardens in the middle of summer! What doesn’t bloom there - luxurious roses, slender lilies, gladioluses, funny phloxes, graceful cloves, bright eshsoltsia, curly nigel ... I always admire such a variety, but tall multi-colored candles of dolphiniums are amazing in a special way. They give beauty, height to front gardens, flower beds. Hybrid varieties look especially good - a kind of two-meter giants! So, the long-term delphinium - planting and care, photos of these handsome men - are the subject of our conversation.
Photo of a summer flower garden with dolphiniums:
Types of Dolphiniums
Perennial delphiniums of hybrid varieties can be conditionally divided into five species.
- Mafinsky hybrids - bred by the breeder from the village. Mafino, Moscow Region. A distinctive feature is dense tall (up to 160-180 cm, sometimes up to 200 cm) bushes with strong stems. Despite the fact that the name of the group contains the word “hybrids”, in most cases, they are sown with seeds and retain 90% of the properties of their “parents”. Half-double flowers.
- Belladona is the only species of delphiniums in which inflorescences do not stick out candles, and hang with panicles.
- Pacific hybrids (another name Pacific) is a distinctive feature of the species - large bushes with dense shoots up to 180-200 cm high and semi-double inflorescences up to 1 m.
- Elatum is common to this species - the color of inflorescences is blue - from pale blue to deep purple.
- New Zealand hybrids - unlike other species - very large semi-double or double flowers, which are collected in dense brushes, of pure beautiful colors.
In each group, one and a half to two dozen varieties. It is not surprising that it is difficult to choose any one unique, “your own” variety. Some names are worth it! King Arthur, Angel with black eyes (Black Eyed Angels), Sweet hearts (Sweethearts), others.
Perennial delphiniums begin to bloom in the month of June. The duration of flowering is from 2-3 weeks to one month. High inflorescence candles, consisting of 50-80 flowers, begin to bloom from below.
It is possible to consider delphinium inflorescences for a long time - in some varieties the flower petals are rounded, in others - sharp, in the third - wide, in the fourth - with curls. There are even those that have petals of different shapes in one flower. Some flowers of the dolphiniums in the center have "eyes", while others do not.
Given what is said above, it is very difficult to choose which variety to grow - I want everything at once. But, if your site is small, we recommend choosing no more than 2-3 varieties.
Perennial delphinium - seed cultivation
You should not think that delphiniums are easy to grow. Yes, for those who have already grown up, care will not cause any special difficulties. But when planting, mandatory compliance with agricultural technology is necessary.
Begin by choosing a landing site for perennial delphiniums. They like fertilized, fertile soil, prefer loamy soil, its acidity should be close to neutral. This means that wood ash at the landing site of the dolphiniums is very desirable.
The area where the delphiniums will grow should be open, ventilated, but, nevertheless, these tall plants should be protected from strong winds. Perennial delphiniums love the sun, but it is better if they are at least in a light shade during midday heat. Light shading does not allow the flowers to burn out in the sun.
There is one secret to growing delphinium from seeds! The brightest colors of the flowers are obtained from the seeds of the first year of collection.
Remember that delphinium seeds lose their germination very quickly, so they must be sown in the fall immediately after ripening (October-November). Seeds are sown in open ground or sowing boxes. If you were not able to do this in the fall, then the seeds must be stratified. Sowing of ripened seeds is carried out in rows in the flower bed, in sowing boxes - randomly.
Distinguish the timing of sowing seeds in open ground:
- spring - April-May,
- summer - June-July,
- winter - October-November.
Perhaps seed reproduction of delphiniums. Planting and caring for seeds and sprouts is the most troublesome task. Seeds require stratification, that is, before planting, they need to be kept in a wet state for 2 weeks in a refrigerator at a temperature of + 3-5 ° C. Sometimes they begin to sprout there.
You can sow seeds for seedlings in late February or early March. Shoots need clarification. Dive seedlings must be careful, as they are easy to break - they are very fragile. When planting, deepen the seedlings to cotyledon leaves.
I think you should only bother with seeds of rare varieties when there are few seeds. Varieties are propagated by seeds, the plants of which have a strongly developed stem root and poorly take root during transplantation. Plants grown from seeds in open ground are characterized by high winter hardiness, a powerful root system and a highly developed aerial mass.
And the more common, proven varieties of delphiniums are best sown before winter in the open ground. In the spring, after the emergence of seedlings, peek them at a constant place in bunches of 3-4 pieces in one hole.
During seed propagation, a large amount of planting material is obtained, therefore, it is recommended to carry out two thinning, leaving the strongest and most beautiful plants. The distance between the plants should be 20-30 cm. It is advisable to leave these plants at the planting site until flowering, which will come after four months.
Reproduction of dolphiniums by dividing the bush
Delphiniums also reproduce by dividing the bush, processes.
You can plant them in early spring, if you live in the middle lane or even north, or in the fall, around September in the Kuban.
Delphiniums grow over time, so the pits for planting shoots or bushes are located at a distance of 50-60 cm. The size of the pits should be much larger than the shoots themselves (40 × 40 × 40 cm). This is necessary in order to fill them with nutritious compost mixed with organic and mineral fertilizers. The proportions are as follows - for 1-2 buckets of compost (rotted humus), 1 tablespoon with a mountain of superphosphate, the same amount of potash fertilizers, 1 tbsp. l without a hill of Kalimagnesia, a glass of wood ash. Nitrogen fertilizers when planting is better not to make.
When planting a bush of a dolphinium (process), the root neck of a seedling should be deepened, but not more than 2-3 cm.
A very important point in caring for dolphiniums is the mandatory thinning of the shoots. Do this in the spring after the plant sprouts reach a height of 10 cm.
But thinning has one interesting feature. In the second year in the spring, 3 stems are left for strong plants, one for weaker ones. And in the following years, 3-4 shoots are left in large-flowered varieties. And in varieties with small flowers - 7-10. The remaining stems are cut under the root.
Thinning allows not to fade inflorescences, not to lose terry, to preserve the original brightness of the flowers.
Blooming dolphinia is important timely watering. Moreover, it is plentiful - at least 2-3 buckets of water are poured under each bush in dry weather. Watering under the root, it is undesirable to get water on the leaves, as delphiniums are easily exposed to fungal diseases.
ABC of agricultural technology - loosening the soil after irrigation or rain.
Delphiniums respond well to feeding with abundant, bright flowering.
Experts advise doing this three times a season. The first top dressing - in spring - with organic matter, the second after 1-1.5 months - with full mineral fertilizer of the Kemira Universal type. For the third time, foliar top dressing is performed during the appearance of buds - sprayed with a solution of superphosphate (50 g per 1 liter of water).
For more rapid flowering, it is recommended several times during the season to pour the dolphiniums with a solution of boric acid - 2 g per 10 liters of water. You can powder the leaves with boric acid powder, the effect will be the same.
Alas, delphiniums are often affected by powdery mildew, viruses. When you notice a dirty whitish coating on leaves or flowers, it is too late to take any action. Therefore, do not forget to sprinkle flowers with any fungicide during the period of budding to prevent disease, for example, with HOM, Ridomil or Phytosporin.
By the way, there are delphiniums resistant to these diseases - these are varieties of the New Zealand group. When buying seeds, pay attention to which group these flowers belong to. By purchasing certain varieties, you will save time on processing flowers from diseases.
There is one feature of care for dolphiniums - pruning, or rather, the actions of flower growers after it.
Yes, before winter, it is recommended to cut off faded peduncles. The peculiarity lies in the fact that they must be cut very close to the ground, and the stumps should be spudded, covered with soil. The fact is that the stems of these flowers are empty inside. Leaving the cut stems above the soil level, you allow rain water to accumulate inside the stumps, and this is a direct threat to the roots - they can rot during the winter. Do not wait for spring shoots. But do not forget to rake the mound at the roots of the dolphiniums in spring.
After trimming, you can leave stems 20-25 cm long, but then you should cover the holes in the stem with clay, earth.
All that I wrote above about trimming dolphiniums relates to varietal species, perennials.
Cute annuals (they are called spurs, shingles) breed self-seeding, do not require such close attention.
Undoubtedly, the delphinium on the site is very beautiful, elegant. But do not forget that this plant is poisonous. Protect your hands from dripping juice when pruning.