Bart, I don't even know if they are available in Italy, but the Guardian series is the earliest I know of. They bloom in mid to late May for me, and continue for about three weeks. In a reallllly cool year, they eek out a secondary flush. They might bloom early enough for you. One thing you'll need to consider is that I doubt any delph will be more than an annual for you. They hate summer heat and humidity. I've tried for YEARS, with afternoon shade, fully amended soil (everything else loves growing in a delph graveyard, lol), faithfully cutting back after bloom, and nothing will get them through more than two years here. I even tried the newer heat-tolerant New Millennium strain by the Dowdeswells of New Zealand. They are GORGEOUS, but even they only last a year or two, and are quite pricey. They also bloom in June, not May. I've often said the only thing that could lure me to move to a colder climate is a garden where I could grow those glorious delphiniums!

For me it is a matter of getting delphinium to stay alive through our hot summer. I planted light blue white bee for 2 years and both died in June or July. They are beautiful in bloom.

Um, this is a bit off the wall but you could, in fact, grow a number of hardy annuals...most especially centaureas and consolida and encourage an earlier and vastly more vigorous show by sowing direct in late August/September. The larkspurs are, I think, going to be more reliable while growing in a lovely range of colours for that tall, abundant cottage-y look. Verbascums are also quick off the mark and again, can be sown in autumn for an early summer showing - the smaller v.phoeniceum species in particular.

Sowing any of the hardy annuals in late summer is a nifty trick...not just for earlier blooming but the fact that the root systems will be growing all winter, resulting in enormously improved plants. The difference between a September sowing and a March sowing of cornflowers, for example, needs to be seen to be believed. Sweet peas are another perfect illustration of how hardy annuals can perform when allowed to overwinter. Another fragrant, tall and harmonious plant would be sweet rocket - hesperis matronalis - which comes in white and lilac/purples and looks stunning with roses. Or umbellifers such as ammi majus, orlaya, daucus carrota. Or lunaria - there is an incredible variety called 'Corfu Blue' (available from seed, too) which has much more blue in the colouring than the usual lunaria. Or valerian.

Delphiniums are definitely going to be challenging for you, Bart. They need considerable water, deep rich soil...but, as an aside, for the a later summer months, you could consider some of the aconitums - monkshoods. Won't address your desire for a May blooming...but for that later summer flush, the monkshoods perform really well...and finally, although sometimes considered a weed, I cannot speak highly enough of the value of the toadflaxes - linaria purpurea...which can also be had in soft pink and white...with elegant, glaucous, drought resistant, foliage, flowering from late May though to November.

O yeah, just remembered...I have had centranthus flowering for several weeks now - not just the better known reds and pinks, but an exceptionally lovely white

I have to admit, Bart, considering how similar your climate is to mine, that growing Delphi’s isn’t likely to be easy. I tried two of the beautiful ones from New Zealand. Blue Lace bloomed gorgeously the first year and I got excited and order Cobalt as well. Blue Lace came back again this spring but is a pathetic little mound of sickly pale green leaves and hasn’t even made an effort to bloom at all this year. Cobalt came back too with a few sprouts that promptly died. I tried various fertilizers in small doses to perk them up. So far, nothing has worked.

I second suzy’s on larkspur. It has become my favorite. In my area it starts blooming in May a little later than roses but not much. It self seeds reliably and endures the heat much better. I assume it should behave similarly in Italy weather wise

Below at the left by the fence

In June most of my roses are taking a break but Larkspur is still blooming away

Foxgloves are a lovely vertical. I loved my Delphiniums in Alaska but I have not tried them here because of the heat.

These are volunteers.

Ooh, Suzy I love your list of great perennials and annuals I could be planting with my roses. I agree with everyone that delphinium is way beyond my capacity as a gardener to grow in hot dry Nebraska, and probably even riskier in Italy. I have however seen a local garden with the entire "hell strip" between the sidewalk and street planted thick with bright blue bachelor's buttons (centaurea) and I am going to try that interspersed in one of my beds. If I can find the "black gem" kind, that is a jaw dropping dark burgundy I really want. I also like the look of the verbascum phoenicum and it's apparently not an invasive form, though some mulleins can be.

I am reluctant to delve into some of the varieties you mention like hesperis or lunaria because they are invasive in our climate and I don't have the room to let them run. Out on the allotment you have the glorious opportunity to let the plants ramble and intermingle and they're stunning in that context. I'm not sure they're a fit for me though.

I also love the idea of fall seeding some of these plants. I have had wretched luck getting larkspur to establish in spring seeding and it's supposed to be easy, but I'm encouraged to try fall or even winter seeding them. Same for sweet peas - now I have a good late fall project!

Great discussion and food for thought!

Cynthia

Just jumping in to agree with Sheila re.foxgloves...in fact, using biennials is a neat thought, not least because right now is prime sowing season for May flowering biennials, any of which will be stunning companion plants for roses. They grow rather well in little outdoor nursery beds and are amenable to transplanting in autumn iwhere you want them to grow to maturity. An undervalued category of reliable plants, imo. For example, my forget-me-nots and wallflowers - classics of the genre - just miss the roses but in Tuscany the timing might fit better,This year, I had a soft cream coloured wallflower which looked sweet with the pulsatillas I would be really interested to see how they do. The verbascums, while short-lived perennials, are best treated as biennials and sown around now along with other lovely potential rose companions - canterbury bells and also chimney bellflowers - campanula media and c.pyramidalis respectively (and naturally, the other seedy bellflower we al know and love = persicifolia). Also worth sowing direct now - aquilegias, and a couple of early flowering meadow rues - thalictrum aquilegifolium and an absolutely fantastic t..flavum glaucum 'Tukker Princess' if you ever come across it - stupendous with taller shrub roses and earlier than 'Elin', 'Rochbrunianum, Splendide et al.

Do try autumn sowing, Cyn. It is my main seed sowing time...although have the extra protection of greenhouse, coldframe, cloches definitely helps keep off various pests such as mice and pigeons. I always have a much easier time doing an autumn sowing...not just for the hardy perennials which need the winter chilling, but the annuals and biennials which will germinate in the last of the summer warmth then grow very slowly over winter, even though some of the pots look quite hopeless, having lost the initial top growth once the frost sets in (patrinias, heliopsis come to mind this year)...and for sure, you can have it all ways with something like sweet peas - I do sowings in September, January and March so I can keep picking without getting too stressed when I inevitably fall short on the dead-heading...and yep, deep burgundy centaureas are fab (I have a weakness for the lilacs and mauve shades).

OMG, you people are great! You've been so generous with info and ideas that I'm not sure I can address everything in one post. I'll start with the "oldest" comment and go from there...

Fig, I found a site that sells "Guardian Blue" seeds-will definitely try those. Oddly enough, many years ago when I had just started out, I grew delphiniums (Pacific Giants) with discreet success,and I'm pretty sure they did last at least a couple of years. But that was before global warming ruined our climate; in those days June was still a reliably pleasant month,with the real heat only arriving at the end of the month/beginning of July. Now summers are longer and hotter; the bad weather can even hit at the end of May.

The fact that you're in a "zone 7b" but have trouble with delphiniums because of heat just proves to me how lame the whole "zone stuff" actually is,because in theory, zone 7 should be fine for delphiniums. I found a site-Jelitto's perennial seeds- which does sell the seeds of the New Millenium strain, so eventually I'll try them.

Forever, judi, and Sheila-your posts do confirm that I shouldn't get my hopes up too high. I won't, but I'm recovering from a hip replacement operation, so can't do much aside from fiddle around with ideas. In any case, I won't be investing money in delphinium plants, just seeds, which cost a lot less. I've successfully grown them from seed-even recently, only a few years ago. I was under the impression that the snails and slugs did them in after their first or second year, but perhaps instead it was the heat...

Suzy jckson, you have provided me with so much about which to think that I don't know where to begin! So I'm going to post this now, and write a new post focusing on your comments. Fact is, I've been wanting to get some tips on seed starting, and you've given me the perfect introduction.

Once again, thank you all SO much! I'll be back later to address suzy's posts...

O Bart, sorry to hear you have been in pain. I know we both garden at a distance and face similar challenges. Irrigation, having to take time to even get to the plot, vulnerability to local fauna, budgets, age and energy...all put limits on our aspirations but, at the same time, we are forced to work well outside of our comfort zone, take risks and be open to innovations and workarounds. Anyway, 2 really great things - you have discovered the Jelitto site (the Gold Nugget seeds are fantastic for those of us short on patience and really help with germinating tricky plants such as callirhoe). And most especially, when we have to work within our physical limits, seeds are the absolute life-savers. The only month I never sow seeds is July. And I would never, in a million years, buy multiple perennials, doing that one of everything instead of having swathes and repetitions. Growing a whole tray of salvia or verbena or echinaceas is as easy as growing one so I honestly think this will be a satisfying and fruitful endeavour for you...and I obviously wish you all joy in going down that (sometimes frustrating) road.

OK, let me see if I can make my way through all the ideas and questions that are teeming through my mind when I read suzy’s great post.

Many years ago, I sowed a generic wildflower mixture out at my land. The larkspur has continually self-sowed, but, alas! All of the ones that come up now are of a dirty pink colour,with maybe an occaisional white. This is NOT what I want,by any means! But I am afraid to try larkspur again at this point-wouldn’t I have to eradicate all this highly inferior strain before I re-start from scratch with a high quality strain.if such a thing exists? Any suggestions?

I was also under-whelmed by the centaureas included in this mix; a lot of greenery and few flowers. I’d be very interested to try a higher quality strain of these, too, if such a thing exists. Again, suggestions?

Sweet peas and hesperis matronalis self-sow wonderfully for me. I’d love to know where to find orlaya seeds, and that special lunaria “Corfu Blue”. I have oodles and oodles of the common light purple lunaria; it’s literally a weed for me,so again,if growing a special strain it might be challenging to not have it be over-run by the common variety.

I definitely have to try linaria purpurea!

Back when I did the delphiniums, I also did digitalis. I’d love to do them agin. Gotta look into verbascum, too. Wild colombines are great for me, and I want to start trying some cultivars.

The fact is, at some point I got addicted to roses,and this has caused me to be far too single-minded. I want to focus on companions now, but I have to kind of start over,since in these past few years I’ve been too focused just on the roses. I have tried rather lamely with a few potted perennials, but they have not been too successful; I really, really want to get back to seeds, for economic reasons, but also because I suspect that plants started from seed may well do better since they won’t be starting life in some greenhouse or whatever. That said, I must confess that I do hope to buy some potted ones . Cruising around on Internet (can’t do a lot else while I wait for my hip to heal), I found an on-line Italian nursery which, supposedly, has (drumroll)…MUNSTEAD WOOD !!! Of course, it might not be the real McCoy;it’s listed under the climbing Austins, but still, I’ve got to try –nobody else seems to have it. But they require that you spend at least 100 euros if you wish to order from them (the rose costs less than 25 euros), so the rest I’ll make up by buying perennials: salvias , phlox subulata, a couple lithodoras, and ajuga Black scallop. I hope to fill in this particularfloribunda bed with these companions, and start out on this new path ,branching out from roses into the world of perennials and annuals.

So, when do you recommend I start sowing? I can’t for now, because of my hip, but maybe this fall??? Should I do it in trays, or can I do it in large pots? any comments and suggestions are more then welcome!

On my phone at the moment but will come back to try to answer some questions and give you a list of useful sources, timings and general waffling...cos I love to chat about plants and although East Anglia is not Tuscany,I think we are garden sisters.

Me, too, Suzy! Can't wait to hear what you have to say!