there was a thread last winter/spring. you might want to search for it- we discussed it quite a bit then. in short, lots have tried, few have succeeded. larkspur is much easier.

You would have to start the seeds indoors and then plant them out in March (they can handle the cold). It is best to start the seeds in late August and let them size up all winter long - but sometimes we have a long warm spell and they bloom too early (short stubby bloom stalks). Last August was way to hot to get them to germinate but usually we have a week or so of cool nights which is ideal for Delphs.

I like to buy seedlings when I can find them. Logans downtown Raleigh usually gets a few flats in along with Lupines and Oriental Poppies sometime in late March. The best and biggest display I've ever seen was from seedlings I bought in Charleston SC one Thanksgiving. Most of them made it through the winter with only remay fabric for protection. When they finally bloomed in late June the stalks were close to 6 feet high.

Store bought seed is notorious for low germination. Out of one packet I can usually get two plants up to blooming size - so I only bother with them from seed if we have the perfect weather.

My secret is to soak the seedflat media with rainwater, sprinkle the seeds, set it under lights indoors, and never water it again. The seeds need a blast of moisture to germinate but will quickly rot if they stay too wet. Dry, dry, dry until the weather starts to warm then plant them outside in deeply worked rich soil that has been mounded up about 8 inches.

I plant them against a wooden fence and tie them for support as they grow.

In truth, the region of the US that grows those lovely photogenic towers of blue is very very small - they require a lot of work in most gardens and are rarely truly perennial for anyone.

I have tried and failed once. I mean it was just pathetic. Didn't even grow to 6". I don't know if I can try again, maybe when I get a hold of some seeds?!

I've read that there is a new variety out that performs better in our heat and humidity but after the dismal failures I've had trying to grow delphiniums, I don't know if I've got the heart. It's tough enough growing the plants that are "easy" in my poor, sandy soil and the drastically hot summers we have.

Yep, I'm waiting for the price to go down on the new 'Millenium' seeds - right now they're close to $1 per seed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 'Pagan Purples' would look loverly in my garden so it is on my wish list.

Things I have learned from growing Delphiniums in Raleigh: it is far easier to just buy sturdy seedlings, no matter what they cost. If you can get to Charleston SC the selection is much better. The plantations down there are pretty advanced in their flowerbed growing so the local garden centers carry top notch plant material, stuff that is hard to find here, but you do have to shop around. Locally whoever is growing the supply for Logan's grows nice health plants but no matter what the tags say they always bloom pale baby blue - cute, but not the color I was hoping for.

Larkspur are a close relative (no longer in the genus Delphinium, they're now classified as Consolida) and easy to grow. Some people can get them to reseed, mine never do, and they will mix so pretty quickly your bed ends up all one color (usually not the color you were hoping for). The easiest way is to clean the flowerbed of any mulch and sprinkle the seeds in the fall. The seedlings stay small until the weather warms and then shoot up in late April and bloom from May til it gets really hot (I've had them go all the way til August but they looked ratty by then). If you don't want to sow them outside you can start them inside in a seed flat or tray: soak the soilless media mix (I prefer rainwater), sprinkle the seeds on the surface, cover with a black plastic bag for a month, uncover exposing the seeds to light, treat as normal seedlings, try to get them in the ground before they get too big otherwise you'll damage the height of the bloom stalks - they need good root development in order to support tall stalks.

John, where are you finding Delph seeds that are so pricey?
The New Zealand series is supposed to be good for hot areas but I've never tried them. I only tried Delphs once and the results were not good.
A friend has offered me some larkspur so I'll settle for that.

Carla

The only catalog I've seen them in recently is Thompson & Morgan. You have to look through all the Delphinium offerings and then you have to read the ultra fine print to discover that there are only 6 seeds in a packet. When they first came out there was a way to buy directly from the developer in New Zealand but it was still pretty pricey. Then there were some sources in Canada but only one of them offered the Pagan Purples and I wanted to wait to see what colors were available locally, then the drought happened and I put off my plans to grow a ton of dark purple delph's.

When the 'Millenium' series hit the press there was plenty of buzz about how much improved they were compared to other strains. Now you'll see the words 'New Zealand' and various spellings of the word 'Millenium' to confuse the shopper into buying the same old seeds that have never worked well before. The ugly side of gardening business. Another ugly fact: pretty much all the seed catalogs buy their bulk seed from the same sources and just repackage it under their label. There are only a few commercial seed farms growing certain crops - so it doesn't really matter where you buy seed from, the source is pretty much always the same.