FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
D. cardinale (cardinal-red). 3 or 4 feet; erect spikes, bright 
scarlet sepals, yellow petals; August. A native of California. 
The f oregoing species are annuals; the following are perennials:— 
D. azureum (sky-blue). 3 feet; large sky-blue flowers in erect 
racemes; petals with bearded tips; July. North-West America (1805). 
D. CASHMIRIANUM. 3 feet; abundance of large violet-blue flowers, 
an inch or two across ; broad sepals joined at apex to form hood; July. 
Cashmir (1875). 
D. DASYCARPUM (hairy follicles). 4 to 6 feet; large blue flowers, 
dark brown petals; June. 
D. ex alt atum (exalted). 3 to 5 feet; medium flowers in upright 
racemes, blue or white; June to September. Caucasus (1819). 
D. formosum (beautiful). 1£ to 3 feet; long spikes of sky-blue 
flowers shaded with indigo; spur long, violet, two-cleft; June to 
September. Armenia. 
D. GRANDIFLORUM (large flowered). 1 to 2 feet; flowers few, large, 
varying blue to white, with intermediate shades; June. Siberia (1816). 
D. nudicaule (naked stem). 1 to 1£ foot; stems almost leafless, 
flowers few, sepals scarlet, petals yellow, spur very long; June to 
September. California (1869). 
cultivation Delphiniums are among the most valuable of hardy 
garden plants, owing to the brilliant appearance of their 
stately flowers. They are by no means fastidious as to soil or situation, 
provided it be not too damp; yet few plants so well repay a little care 
and attention in preparing good accommodation for them, and in watering 
them in dry weather. They thrive best in a deep soil, into which a 
liberal supply of thoroughly well-rotted manure has been dug. Those 
sorts that are of medium height make fine displays when beds are filled 
entirely with them, and for this purpose the plants should be put in at 
distances of three feet all round. The taller kinds, like exaltatum and 
dasycarpum, should be planted at the back of borders, or in. front of 
shrubberies, singly, and at intervals of eight or ten feet. 
The annual kinds must be grown from seed, which should be sown 
thinly, where the plants are to flower, in March or April, and thinned 
out, as they do not succeed so well with transplantation. The perennials 
may be increased by seed, by dividing the roots, by offsets, or by cuttings. 
The seeds of these should be sown as soon as ripe, or in February, for 
they do not germinate rapidly. They should be sown in beds, the 
seedlings thinned out, and in the autumn the plants all lifted with a fork, 
and planted in the borders, or flower-beds. In those cases where seed is 
not desired, the capsules should not be allowed to develop, and the plant 
