Another great Delphinium

Submitted by Kelaidis on Fri, 05/28/2010 - 23:03

Almost everywhere in the West you will find a tiny, tuberous delphinium that can make a huge impact in spring. I have grown Delphinium nuttallii (which seems to be identical to D. nelsonii, D. bicolor, D. menziesii and others) for many years and it has been reproducing by seed in my blue gramma grass meadow. Due to our incredibly cool spring its flowers have lasted for nearly two months. It as the habit of bulbous plants: popping up, blooming and going dormant quickly...I hope I can encourage it to spread widely through the meadow where it's growing...

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Comments

Submitted by Hoy on Sat, 05/29/2010 - 02:15

Kelaidis, you do lure me with your tempting Delphiniums! Can I be so bold and ask for seed of some of them if possible? What can I offer in exchange?

Submitted by Kelaidis on Sat, 05/29/2010 - 11:06

Seed on this one will be ripe in a week or so: it got warm this last week and the seed ripens quickly.

Others will take a bit longer: I have no doubt you have LOTS of things of interest...

Will send as soon as ripe: your address is in the directory?

Submitted by Hoy on Sat, 05/29/2010 - 12:44

Kelaidis wrote:

Seed on this one will be ripe in a week or so: it got warm this last week and the seed ripens quickly.

Others will take a bit longer: I have no doubt you have LOTS of things of interest... Maybe, but ripening of seed is a slow process here and I am not always at home at the right moment.

Will send as soon as ripe: your address is in the directory? Yes, at least you have my email address.

Submitted by Weiser on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:19

PK
I have never grown D nuttallii I have seen it in bloom but never with ripe seed.  I have grown what is known as Delphinium bicolor it was a nice compact species not as susceptible to wind damage as the taller ones are.
I can see how it would work well in a dry prairie grass lawn. Have you ever tried it with buffalo grass?

Submitted by Kelaidis on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 18:46

As far as I can tell, John, Delphinium nuttallii is virtuallyi identical to D. bicolor, D. menziesii, D. nelsoni and a few others. These tuberous rooted miniatures are universal in the West. Turns out they are easy to grow in blue gramma lawns. Hot dang!