Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Plant ABC's - D is for Delphinium

Today's selection for the ABC's of plants in my garden is Delphinium or Larkspur as it its called here in Texas.   These Larkspur flowers are in my friend Kathy's garden where I took this photo when I visited her beautiful garden last spring.

   
Delphiniums are popular summer perennials in colder climates but here in Texas the Larkspur is grown as an annual from seed for spring flowering.  In addition to allowing some seed to fall naturally, Kathy collects and sows seeds by hand to ensure this wonderful explosion of blooms.

You might think I'm cheating just a bit because this series is supposed to be about plants in my yard.  I'm getting to that part.  Kathy generously shared her Larkspur seeds with me and I planted them last fall.  Here's how they look now....ta daaa!


Hmmm, well it will be a while until mine look like hers.  So you prefer seeing Kathy's flowers?  Thought so.

I've learned a lot about gardening in San Antonio from Kathy, most notably that you can grow lots of flowers here.  I plan to post more about Kathy's amazing garden transformation along the way too.

12 comments:

  1. Shirley, I just love larkspur! It is one of my most favorite cool season annuals. Unfortunately, I’ve done so much rearranging of plants this winter, I’m afraid my larkspur show will be very poor. That’s why I love this post, it’s so nice to see larkspur seedlings in your garden. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You're welcome Lucy, glad you enjoyed this. There's always next year in the garden.

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  2. Larkspur are so pretty...and, I've never tried to grow them. Wonder why?
    I'm thinking they have to be sown in the fall?
    Looking forward to seeing yours all in bloom.

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    1. They do need to be sown in the fall or you can get seedlings in the spring sometimes. I'll put up a photo of my little patch blooming too.

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  3. Wow, girl, you make my garden sound amazing. Thanks a bunch.

    I have tons of poppies up. My cemetery white iris are blooming.
    I posted this as anonymous, as I did not know what to do. It is such fun getting old.

    Kathy

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    1. Your garden is amazing Kathy. I didn't have to make it sound that way and be prepared because I'm planning a post on your front yard transformation too.

      The poppies and iris are blooming...I'll be right over!

      Anonymous is just fine, I knew it was you as soon as I started reading.

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  4. Larkspur are lovely. I don't grow them, but they're common at Zilker Botanical Gardens where I work. So, I can enjoy them without doing anything else. Nice!

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    1. I need to check out the Zilker Botanical Gardens next time we're in Austin.

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  5. I love delphiniums. I used to grow them a lot years ago, but we now have very dry summers which they don't like. Despite that I bought a new plant last year, and I've ordered 3 more this year. Going to try growing them in containers instead. I've also grown the annual larkspur, but didn't get as good as display as Kathy's.

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    1. I loved Delphinium when we lived in colder climates and was thrilled to learn that the annual version can grow well here.

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  6. Ah...I am so enjoying your alphabet. I just may steal your idea this summer and do a tropical alphabet in my garden.
    Larkspurs take me back to my kind, dear Grandmother's garden. She grew them wild and they'd spring up anywhere. I loved the little rascals.
    David/:0)

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  7. Thank you David, I was planning to add a note soon inviting everyone to join in with their own versions. It would be fun to read all of them. I'll even look into adding a Mr. Linky gadget.

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