Delphiniums Hardy Perennials Performs Often

Nothing provides those brilliant spires of blues as surely as delphiniums. However, all delphiniums are not blue - prevailing colors may be the blues and violets but the whites and pink-raspberry-rose shades are favorites also.

When the first of the year blooming is finished - usually about early June, cut the bloom spikes to within six inches of the ground and remove any debris that may provide a hiding place for snails and slugs. To give the plants a short rest, watering should be withheld for a couple of weeks - or until new growth commences again from around the crown of the plant.

When the new shoots are advanced several inches the old ones can be cut out and a feeding of a quick acting fertilizer, such as ammonium phosphate, will force the new growth very rapidly, and according to richness of soil one can get a second, beautiful crop of blooms. Before feeding, be certain the soil is moist and then water the ground well after applying the fertilizer.

Then watch what happens - they'll come on again to bloom in August or thereabouts. Some gardeners even get three flushes of growth and bloom each year but this method may prove to be an early death for the plants. Delphiniums grown in a mixture of colors are available in pony packs, usually six plants, all through spring. Or, can a little later be purchased in 3-inch plastic pots according to name, or color.

Delphiniums that are generally available are the Giant Pacific Strain - they produce blooms 3-inches across and are 95 per cent double. Under best conditions they attain six to seven feet, the large flowers borne closely on long strong spikes. If this is your goal, be sure to have strong stakes ready to support them as they quickly reach skyward.

Main factors of delphinium culture are a sunny location out of strong winds, a rich loamy soil, and continuous supply of moisture during the growing season. Very important to beauty enthusiasts is the fact they have a happy relationship with other tall bloomers, such as Shasta or white lilies when interplanted in the border - they really excel in background plantings.

Summer-flowering shrubs are less plentiful than their spring counterparts, but gardeners have a better-than-average selection to choose from. They range from such exotics as hibiscus and fuchsias to such general purpose shrubs as abelia and escallonia. Abelia is an old garden friend. Without the familiar glossy abelia, which displays small white or pink blooms each summer, gardens would be less colorful than they are.

It is hardy - neither drought nor lack of care seems to change the crisp freshness of its green tinged foliage, nor its small tubular flowers. They are great in the foundation planting, in the shrub border - there's even on prostrate form which makes a marvelous groundcover. Escallonias like abelias, have a crisp, clean appearance and resent too much watering.

The variety Fradesi is an evergreen, medium-sized shrub with compact branching habit. Showy flowers in terminal clusters are rich carmine rose, blooming from spring through summer. Other flowering shrubs one should consider all summer long. The blue-flowering Cape Plumbago does remarkably well in well drained soil. Red Bottle Brush is a well known garden performer; Lantana, once taken for granted, its current popularity has been a result of the newer, compact varieties: Oleanders look as radiant as spring when temperatures hit the highs.

Delphinium Plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphiniums