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DELPHINIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DELPHINIUM. 



hardy annuals there is also a wealth of 

 beauty for the summer garden, and we 

 have a host of beautiful sorts with a wide 



Portion of a group of Delphiniums in the garden at 

 The Grange, Knutsford, Cheshire. 



range of colour. There is great diversity 

 too in the habit of growth, some being as 

 dwarf as a Hyacinth, others 3 or 4^ ft. 

 high, others with a branching habit re- 



sembling a candelabrum. The species 

 which have given rise to these varieties 

 are D. Ajacis (Rocket Larkspur) and D. 

 Consolida. D. Ajacis has the flowers in 

 long loose spikes forming an erect and 

 spreading panicle, the stem vigorous with 

 open spreading branches. All the varieties 

 of the Rocket Larkspur may be arranged 

 in three great groups : i. D. Ajacis 

 majus (large Larkspur). The stem of this 

 is single, and varies in height, from 3 to 

 4 ft. 6 in. ; the flowers double, in a long, 

 single, and compact spike, generally 

 rounded off at the extremity. This kind 

 has given the following varieties white, 

 flesh-coloured, rose, mauve or puce- 

 coloured, pale violet, violet, ash-coloured, 

 claret, and brown. 2. D. Ajacis minus 

 (dwarf Larkspur). The stem of this is 

 from 20 to 24 in. in height, and is even 

 shorter when the plant is sown thickly or 

 in dry or poor soils. The flowers are very 

 double, and in a single well-furnished 

 spike, usually cylindrical, and rounded off 

 at the extremity, but rarely tapering. 

 The principal varieties are white, 

 mother-of-pearl, flesh colour, rose, mauve, 

 pale mauve, peach blossom, light violet, 

 violet, blue-violet, pale blue, ash-gray, 

 brown, light brown, white striped with 

 rose, white striped with gray, rose and 

 white, and flax-coloured and white. 3. 

 D. Ajacis hyacinthiflorum (dwarf Hya- 

 cinth-flowered Larkspur). -The varieties 

 of this group have been raised in Belgium 

 and Germany. They do not differ from 

 other kinds in form of flower, but only in 

 the spike on which the flowers are set, 

 being more tapering, and the flowers 

 farther apart than those of the two pre- 

 viously mentioned groups. There is a 

 strain called the tall Hyacinth Larkspur. 

 Other strains mentioned in catalogues 

 are the Ranunculus-flowered (ranunculi - 

 florum) and the Stock-flowered, both of 

 which are worth cultivating. 



D. Consolida (Branched Larkspur). 

 This species has branching stems and 

 beautiful violet-blue flowers hung on 

 slender stalks, and coming later than 

 those of D. Ajacis. It embraces several 

 varieties, both single and double, all of 

 which may be reproduced from seed. 

 The principal sorts are white, flesh colour, 

 red, lilac, violet, flaxen, and variegated. 

 The varieties especially worthy of cultiva- 

 tion are candelabrum, bearing pyramidal 

 spikes of flowers of various colours ; and 

 the Emperor varieties, of symmetrical 

 bushy habit, which form compact and 

 well-proportioned specimens, i| ft. high 

 by 3! ft. in circumference, doubleness of 

 flowers possessing great constancy. There 



