DELPHINIUM 



349 



Fig. 145. DELPHINIUMS IN THE GARDEN where their stateliness is steadily win- 

 ning them increased popularity. In a few more years the florist will give them 

 the attention they deserve for forcing under glass 



have transplanted the seedlings, or pot them up into 2j^-in. pots; 

 they are well worth the trouble. By the middle of May plant out 

 into the field, allowing about ten inches between the plants and 

 several feet between the rows. These early sown plants will nearly 

 all flower the first Summer and you should have a good crop in 

 Fall. They need but little protection over Winter and will be at 

 their best the second Summer, coming into flower by the end of 

 June or early July. It is always well to provide stakes for the plants 

 as the flower spikes get too heavy and with a heavy rain or wind- 

 storm are likely to break off or fall over. Delphiniums are good 

 for years, yet it is always best to sow a few each year and keep on 

 pushing and selling the plants each Fall and Spring. 



FORCING UNDER GLASS 



Lift some 2- or 3-year-old field plants in October, heel in in a 

 coldframe and bring into a 45-deg. house about the early part of 

 February. They are best off planted on a solid bed, and you can 

 do nothing with them in a hot house. The more slowly you allow 

 them to come along, the better the results; and you can cut some 

 grand spikes during May. For a large cut flower basket, take 

 these Delphiniums, some long-stemmed America Gladioli and 

 some Clara Butt Tulips (all of which you can grow easily under 

 glass and should have by that time), and the largest city florist 

 cannot show anything finer. 



