Could you start them in spring and just grow them in pots until they get get quite large and then plant them out sometime in summer? I'm assuming it would be easier to protect the seedlings from the snails if they were potted, but maybe it isn't.

I don't think we have snails in MN. We have slugs, but I don't think I've ever seen a snail. Or maybe they're just really tiny here and don't count for much.

Kevin

no snails!!!!

we have slugs (many) too.

Yeah, I could sow them in spring but sowing while there is still some heat and light available gets the jump on much bigger (stronger) plants for next year. Might have to go the half and half route.

Wieslaw - where are you when I need you?

Sorry, I was busy. According to the written sources I have , Delphiniums need rather high temperature to germinate - around 20 degrees Centigrade.I usually sow them in June. And additionally, I can see some of my Delphiniums seed pods are already brown and opening, so maybe it is the nature's way to sow them now? I have never experienced a Delphinium die of frost here, even in small pots. Although I have read that they do not like to sit in pots(something with high temperature on the roots or something). I will try to find my seed catalogue to confirm what I have written now.

Campanula ,I have found my catalogue. It says about your group of Delphiniums, that it needs to have 22 degrees C or more to obtain the best results in germination. The same applies to Belladonna group and Pacific. Some wild species need temperatures of less than +5 degrees C to germinate best. Only one of species mentioned here need actual chilling period(-4 to +4).

I can shove the cat out of the propagator! (huge, idle beast has lain in it all summer because I forgot to turn it off). Can even supply extra lighting at a pinch. Should I chance it then?
Did manage to grow some rather lovely yellow ones (Xalil or summat like) by the wintersowing milk bottle method and yep, I don't think they would be fazed in a cold greenhouse (with no pesky slugs and snails so they actually get a chance to make a bit of growth before chancing my snail garden. See, already the voice of the garden optimist (deluded) trampling all over the sane and sensible......

campanula - I feel for you. This year has been the sluggiest and snailiest ever. I have a garden full of frogs but the slugs are at far bigger than the frogs and they laugh at their so called predators. And the snails I gather in handfuls from under the wall shrubs. I have a single ragged hosta which even in a pot set 3 feet off the ground is nightly torn to shreds by the horde. I admire your optimism in even thinking about delphiniums.

I'm sure you have no interest in this, but I WAS curious as to whether or not we had land snails in MN. All I can find on the topic is some scholarly article about these really, really tiny ones - like a few mm in length. There were some wonderful photos of these creatures taken through an electron microscope. I think my hostas are safe.

Kevin

Lucky you! This is what we have. (Gathered in about 2 minutes from under the wall shrubs.)

{{gwi:37342}}

They are all edible, including the Iberian slug(something I've read). There is a recipe for a soup somewhere, from a Danish cook from Bornholm.

yes, well, on you go, scoff away, Wieslaw. Lots of things are edible, inasmuch as you won't actually die if you eat then.....but you won't enjoy it much either....it would take many bushels of garlic butter to induce me to do anything other than throw my molluscs on the (very busy) road.
Oh yes, Flora, I am on my second desperate hosta attempt this year, despite growing the so-called snail resistant ones. Krossa regal has completely vanished and Frances Williams is a shredded mess, like you, in pots on stands WITH A MOAT - the bloody things simply snorkel then mountaineer up the greasy pots (vaseline - epic fail).

So this is why we see endless perfect hostas from across the pond - I had to wonder.

Can't you borrow a pair of young Muscovy ducks from somebody? They will finish the slugs off in no time. Even my chickens eat smaller snails.

Good grief! I think they sell those as pets around here. I'll keep my squirrel pests. You can keep those.

Kevin

Kevin, do they sell snails as pets over there??

Yep. Snails are sold for aquariums in the U.S. to help eat algae, etc. They are cute...but annoying. I was always worried about not catching them if they died and their fouling up the water.

Flora, that is a LOT of snails! Yikes!

I honestly don't know if they sell land snails as pets. I know they sell the under water types, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone, somewhere sold the hosta-eating kind. People buy the weirdest critters and then call them pets. What on earth would one do with a land snail other than watch it crawl and eat? That could get old in about 10 minutes.

I don't have pets other than my 3 goldfish which have somehow managed to survive for about 10 years now. I haven't been in a pet store in years.

Kevin

Geesh flora and campanula. You both have my sympathy. Slugs are usually a problem over here, some growing to a size that someone might actually name them and put them on a leash. But this year, our area experienced a partial drought in June and most of July and I think that has curtailed their activities. I've not seen but a couple all summer. I've NEVER seen anything here that came with a shell!

Some of my hosta have holes in their leaves but it was not from slugs. We had a bad storm go through here one night and the hail came down in buckets. Lots of my plants have holey leaves from that storm.

Linda

Not a lot of ducks in the centre of the city. I have gathered and cooked snails in the past but it is a faff what with the starvation and barely worth the effort. As mentioned the frogs are overwhelmed.

Cranking up the sympathy here: Note eggshells, grit and slug pellets all tried.

Snails and slugs love the climate in California, especially along the coast. I have had no problems keeping them under control with the iron phosphate baits. Baiting needs to be started before you see the damage and the whole garden baited at once. Snails travel at up to 13 feet per hour and can live and reproduce in one part of the garden, and eat in an other part, so do the whole garden at once. Al

Iron sulphate works up to a point but in a climate where it rains frequently (almost every day this summer) it needs constant replacement. Same applies to diatomaceous earth.

Most years slugs and snails are the number 1 garden problem in the UK. At least snails hibernate but slugs are on the attack 365 days a year.

a sharp pair of kitchen scissors sorts the slugs out, I find, neatly severing slimy beasties in half.

Any sharp scissors will do, not only kitchen. It is enough to cut the head off, then more of the slimy stuff will stay inside. I have noticed, that when the corpses are dried up by the sun, some of my chickens will eat them. They do not eat them while they are slimy.