DELPHINIUMS. 
37 
DELPHINIUMS. 
By Amos Perry, F.R.H.S. 
[Read June 5, 1917 ; Mr. W. A. Bilney, J. P., in the Chair.] 
Delphiniums are among the most popular of plants for general 
border decoration. They are quite hardy, quickly establish them- 
selves in any well-cultivated sunny border, and no garden can be 
considered complete without a representative collection. 
Many species both annual and perennial are well known in cultiva- 
tion, the most popular being the stately hybrid perennial Larkspur, 
valuable on account of their variable heights and wonderful range of 
colours. 
The old strains of Delphiniums have been improved almost out 
of recognition. Compare, for instance, the narrow-petalled flowers, 
crowded together, which you found in the varieties popular twenty 
years ago, with a well-developed spike of ' King of Delphiniums/ 
This has been the work of years of careful selection. Their popularity 
has given the nurseryman and the amateur sufficient encouragement 
to experiment in the raising of new and improved forms, and we owe 
a great debt of gratitude to the houses of Kelway and V. Lemoine 
for their work in this direction. Many of the sterling varieties now 
common in our gardens came first from Langport and Nancy. 
Cultivation. — Although the hybrid perennial Larkspur is of very 
easy cultivation, the finest results will be obtained only when special 
attention is given to their requirements. Where the soil is heavy and 
saturated during the winter months, and parched during the summer, 
the borders should be deeply dug or trenched during the early autumn, 
and well-decayed manure incorporated, and allowed to remain fallow 
during the winter months, planting early the following spring. On 
the other hand, should the soil be loose or sandy the borders should 
be deeply dug, arranging for a copious supply of manure to be placed 
at the bottom of the trench to encourage deep rooting, and planted 
during early autumn. As a precautionary measure I would recom- 
mend a mulching of manure during the summer months and an 
abundant supply of water during very dry weather, especially in the 
period prior to flowering. 
It is a very common practice to cut Delphiniums down 
immediately the first flush of beauty is over, when a further display 
may be looked for during August and September, but then the plant 
has a tendency to make numerous crowns, and the following season 
you will have to pay the penalty by having a number of small spikes 
and not such a good display as might be expected from established 
