These were winter sowed---

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Duane I envy you!! Those are beeeeeautiful! I have tried wsing delphs, but the slugs go at them so fiercely that even purchased plants give up. ARGH!!

Nice, really nice!

I keep hearing about slugs going after Delphiniums, is this a normal thing, is this why a lot of people claim to have problems growing them? Is there anything I can do beforehand to keep slugs away from them. Does everyone have slugs?

I purchased a new home this past July and this will be my first Winter wsing so excuse the ignorance. In the past, I've always planted my flowers in containers.

Duane, your Del's are gorgeous, I very much want to grow some, I sure hope I can!

Many thanks!
Linda

Wow I am inspired now. Very nice pic. It looks like you are growing them in part shade? I started some indoors from seeds. I hope they get that big. Thanks for the pic. Barb

Linda, here's the deal on delphiniums - delphs are long lived, somewhat high maintenance plants here in my cool summer area. Slugs and snails everywhere love them - mainly those tender newly emerging shoots which can be lost to slugs overnight.

They're hungry and thirsty - They need humus rich organic soil with consistant moisture and are heavy feeders - mine are top dressed with compost at least twice a year minimum.

Unless you are trying some of the new sturdier varieties that are supposed to be wind resistant, don't even consider not staking them. You've gotta watch for powdery mildew too. Deer LUV them. And, my soil is acidic so I push a few sticks of blackboard chalk around my clumps for a slow release of lime to make them happier.

As you can see mine are grown right next to the fence so I can tie them up to the fence if they start to flop. I also use slug bait "well before" things start to pop up in the spring and religiously throughout the spring because we get too much rain at that time. I also have an acidic soil and put a few sticks of chalk near the plant. (I think I got that from morz8 actually on another thread a few years ago.) They get sun until about 2pm and then shade the rest of the day. I have some growing another area that gets more shade and they did fine,too. I think the key for slugs is to bait early, before things emerge,and throughout the spring in my opinion. You want to WS them right now, also. I'm starting some more this weekend.
Duane

Linda,

I am in MA too in zone 6a. I winter sowed NZ delphiniums two years ago and they bloomed last summer. They were great and they rebloomed great for me in the fall. This is my second time trying delphiniums. The first time I bought a plant and my DH and I just LOVED it. But, in the next year or two it had such bad mildew that I shovel pruned it. Then I read about NZ delphinium that are bred to be mildew resistant. I sent for seed and winter sowed those. They are not great germinators for me..less than 50%..btw.

Last year, as you know here in MA, we had the driest summer we have ever had. I staked the delphiniums and watered when I watered everything else and they bloomed nicely and I had no mildew at all all summer. Whether the dry summer had anything to do with it I don't know. So, I would like to have more and I am winter sowing them again this year. I do not have a slug problem at this time. If I have seen one slug in my yard in the past two years, that is about it, so that is not something I have to deal with. I also am not in an area where I have to worry about deer. So..here are two pics of my delphiniums blooming last year. Hope this helps... :-)

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I am going to WS Delphiniums this year. I have already bought the seed. My only problem is that it gets really hot here and I don't have much shade. My garden is all in the sun. I am thinking of planting them in pots and sinking the pots in the garden. That way, when it starts getting too hot, I can move them behind the garage, our only shady spot, until things cool down. For me, in the past, they have just been annuals. It's worth a try, the seed didn't cost too much to use them as an experiment.
Donna

I WSed Delphs two years in a row. The first year, I think I had old seed and they didnt' germinate. They did germ the second year and even bloomed a bit in late Summer. They are not in a good spot in my yard, however, and the dog buried it while making a "dirt bed" for herself. If it survived her digging, I'll be trying to move it, while also WSing more this year (and planting in a different spot)

Linda

duane and pm2: beautiful delphs, absolutely inspiring.

lindama: If you have slugs they become active in spring when the soil warms to about 40 degrees. You can set traps by placing small boards on top of your flower beds. Check the undersides in early morning to see if there are slugs, and you can squish them. If you determine that you do have slugs, baits/poison will be much more effective. I use Sluggo or Escar-go which are iron based and not detrimental to your soil or earthworms. They are pricey, but work very well.

Karen

I just sowed some delphinium seeds last week. It's an experiment for me. It gets too hot here in the summer for them but they are so pretty I'm hoping I can get a bloom or two before it gets too hot and just grow them like an annual. No sprouts yet.

Prairiemoon2 I have a question about the pictures. What is the purpose of the upside down pot on the sticks?

LOL..proudgm....I didn't even notice that was in the photo. Well, it has a two fold purpose. One is that it is decorative. I don't really enjoy the look of the stakes in among the plants and to me it just looks a little more decorative. Second, I think it makes the tip of those thin green stakes more visible and is a caution against bending forward in the bed and getting it stuck in your eye or face. They are the smallest size clay pot that were about a dime a piece and I used that green foam that they use for floral arrangements to fill up the pot so that when you stick in on the top of the stick, it pretty much stays put.

:-)
pm2

Oh yeah, prairiemoon, I've alrady crashed my face into some thin green single stakes I put around transplanted Iris along the driveway so I know not to shovel the heavy ice on top of them. Snowfall is fine but super heavy soaked ice floes aren't in the cards for my transplants. Spent too much time digging them up, dividing them and hacking out underground vines with axe to replant...LOL.

Just as I leaned down to trim the greenery to 8 inches for fall I smacked my face right into the green metal stake which luckily has a ring at the top as I bought them to stake Crown Imperials if they ever come up in spring.

I bought some seeds of smaller Delphs which say they don't need to be staked so we'll see. Definitely going to be using some of that Sluggo around pots, containers and now Delphs. I don't even want to start attracting them since we've had problems in past years as evidenced by mole tracks across lawn and mulched areas around shrubs.

Just love that name "Escar-go"...hysterical.

Glad I read this thread...I've been careful to try and avoid WS seeds of things that invite yucky pests into garden but this one got by me. Couldn't resist those blue Delphs though!

LOL you wanna keep them away from your delphs, just plant hostas, Ive never experienced slugs on my delphs, but they love my hostas!

Thanks to all for the advice on the Delphiniums. I'm not sure weather I have slugs or not but I'll find out this spring. I love the chalk theory for acidic soil, mine is acidic, that much I do know, so that will come in handy I'm sure. It's going to be a wait and see game as far as whether or not I'll be able to grow them without too much of a problem.

I choose to order the Delphinium seeds from Parks at least for this year or until I see how well they grow for me. I am waiting for an order of Delphinium Centurion Sky Blue seeds, which is the tall variety and I'm also trying Delphinium Summer Blues, the shorter variety, only 10-12" tall and is suppose to bloom good the first year. I am partial to the tall ones though, I just love them.

Prariemoon2, thank you for posting the photos, they look so pretty, hope they do just as well or even better for you this summer.

Linda

LindaMA
I had great germination luck with Dowdeswell's. It is very important to get FRESH seed..store bought seed will have lower germination rates.
Personally, I have no problem getting them to germinate, I bought 4 types from Dowdeswell's and planted them up (a few rows of each) in a 72 plug tray and EVERY ONE came up..fast! I was VERY impressed!

However, I must add that I do not have luck getting any plant to the next step which is the true leaves. So if you are good there then you should be fine. I killed all of mine some how right before they got their true leaves...
it is me...not the plants so don't hold it against Dowdeswell's. :)

I have a jug full of delphs that have sprouted and the seed was saved in 1999. I use the seed each year but this is the first year I have WS.

I purchased two different types of Dephs from Park Seed, was going to purchase from Dowdeswells but didn't, wish I had now. I purchased a tall species, think it was Centurion sky Blue and the low growing - Delphinium Summer Blues, but no germination on either yet. My fingers are crossed, I will keep you posted.

Lindama, I like the idea of chalk too! Never would have thought of that....only question on this is ...is ALL chalk created equal? :) Or should I get a certain kind?? I would think the thinner sticks and not the fat ones but I am just curious as too brand.
And I too just planted some Delphs from the old seed I still had in the fridge from Dowdeswell's..it is a year old but I am keeping my fingers crossed. I know it is late to plant but after reading the winter sowing forum I am itching to try it out! I am actually sad it isn't March.

I was also reading up on Lime, and it said that it is not only good for your plants but it encourages earth worms and if you have soil with a lot of clay (like I do) that it helps it bond together to create better drainage. Anyone have any experience with this? i read that on a pamphlet in a soil test kit.

Lindama ~ Well I have germination on those year old delph seeds from Dowdeswells! I am so pleased. I planted a bunch of containers with things like delps, marigolds, Zinnias, Larkspur, Sweet Pea and wow they are doing great! It did take about 20 days I think for them to germinate.
How are your delphs doing from seed?
Sarah

As of today, still no germination in either ws'd container of Delphs, but it has been rainy and raw here for the past 3-4 days and it's supposed to stay this way until early next week. I'm hoping that once it warms up, I'll see some seedlings but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

I've had great luck with most of my ws'd containers, I'm still waiting on the Delphs, Yvonne's Salvia, Spirea "Neon Flash" and Agastache "Purple Pygmy". Everything else I sowed germinated.

I'll keep up posted on the Delps, let me know how your's do once you plant them out.

Linda

I have one tiny true leaf on my Ws'd Deplhs. They have been status quo for 2 weeks now.
If I planted them out now, they would get lost in the mulch, lol.

Linda in MA, there are slugs like we have east of the Mississippi, then there are SLUGS they have on the west coast. If we saw one of theirs in our gardens we would head for the house, they are that BIG! Unless you have a real slug population, and I think you'd know it if you did, you should be fine with our baby slugs.

Send me your address; email me through Garden Web, but use my real email instead of GW mail, ok? I have 15 seeds of Dowdeswell's GM150 I can send you that I think are fresh from this year. I have the pack on my desk, but if I don't get your addy in a day or two, they will be lost to the winds...I've had it happen way too many times to think I can keep them in a "special" place. LOL!

I would soak the seeds 24 hours before planting in a little hydrogen peroxide mixed with water to give them a jump.

Lime

Lindama - I finally have true leaves on my delphs! it was along wait and they were sprouted with just the first 2 leaves for sometime but the the true laves are coming now! I am so excited! it brings tears to the eyes...I am such a proud Delphinium mother. :) LOL LOL

No luck here, we're just approaching the Memorial Day weekend and still no germination but you know what, it's okay, I have more than enough seedlings to plant out this weekend and finding a place for everything is going to be hard enough, so maybe it's for the best. I'll be spending most of this long weekend planting all my seedlings, I am so excited, I can't wait. Who would have thought.

Linda

My delphs are still tiny, I repotted them in a 6in container till they can get large enough not to get hid in the mulch.
I have plenty also to plant out, but this weekend will be vegetation management, yeiks! will all this cool weather and rain the weed kingdom and grass is growing leeps and bounds.

Yes mine would also get lost in my mulch! I haven't even opened the containers up all the way. We have had a cool spring so far (my big delphiniums just love the cooler weather). It has been only averaging 58-65 degrees or so during the day. We had hardly any rain in April but I think May is making up for the lack of rain last month. But I decided since my baby delphs were so small that I would leave the tops on them. I have them all in 2 liter pop bottles so just the caps are off. I still can't believe they actually have true leaves! After the last delphinium seedling massacre that I had last year I though there was no hope for me. :)
linda ...just keep waiting. I think I noticed the bottom of the seedling getting a bit fat right before they pushed those true leave up...I'm sure they will come through for you.

It seems that I get germination from Delphiniums when I put them in a part or almost totaly shade area. They seem to like lingering in the dark.
When I've WSed them and put them in sun, I get nothing.
And for this years update on last years Delps: they were coming up...and then, my dog started digging again :-(
The ones I WSed this year are DEFINITELY going in a different area.

Linda

I grabbed one of my moms delphs after she died and it bloomed great last year ( the year I snagged it) but there year there is no sign what so ever of it. There is also nop sign of the ws delphs I did last year as well. I am in zone 5 the same zone as my mom and I put it in a sunny well drained area and I feed my plants at least once a month granted it is the miracle grow but still. I am trying my hand at ws delphs again this year and we will see what happens.

Paula

Hi! I am new and have enjoyed reading all the posts! Question- do you have to winter sow the seeds? I have a huge Delphi. growing in one of my planter boxes, and I would love to save some of the seeds to start my own. Can I try and do it now? How do I know the seeds are ready? Any help/advice would be MUCH appreciated! Thanks!
I'll have to try and post a picture of it. .