Foreword 
Did you ever have a real hobby? If not, you do not 
know all the good times you have missed. Although a 
professional man, raising flowers has been my hobby. 
Roses, Lilacs, Tulips and Delphiniums have been my 
“idle hour” companions. But my real love was for the 
hybrid delphinium, to my mind the most stately, most 
majestic, most colorful and appealing of all perennials. 
Here, there and everywhere I found my plants. The 
finest speciments of England and America have contrib¬ 
uted to my garden. Cross breeding and rigid selection 
worked many miracles until at length I found my efforts 
rewarded by a delphinium garden filled with plants so 
marvelously beautiful, so unusual, so awe-inspiring, that 
I was persuaded by my friends to give to the world the 
results of my experiments. They were so regal in form 
and beauty that I called them IMPERIALS. 
There are not many of this royal family in my garden 
—scarcely 200 plants—but each is a masterpiece. High 
into space (seven to ten feet) they raise their majestic 
crowns with great flower heads and enormous blooms 
(average about 3 inches in diameter). And such color 
combinations! Every known shade of blue, violet, indigo, 
lavender and purple combine in dazzling effects. Every 
bloom is double with fantastic centers—the bee, of white 
or black or brown. Attracted by the brilliancy of the 
bloom, the bees, the butterflies and the humming birds 
add their presence to the picture. 
There may be a garden as beautiful, even more beau¬ 
tiful, somewhere in the world, but it has not been my 
good fortune to see it. And it is from this mystic fairy 
garden that every seed or seedling plant comes that is 
sent out to any customer from my DELPHIA DELL. 
Seeds and Seedlings 
No plant is so capricious as the delphinium when re¬ 
production is considered. No one can tell just what a 
seedling will be. The purest white may produce the 
brightest blue or a dazzling lavender may produce an 
imposing purple. Originally the delphinium had a single 
blossom and it has a constant tendency to revert to type. 
Only double delphs are allowed to grow in my garden. 
The American Delphinium Society Bulletin states that if 
5 per cent of seedlings are of high quality the result is 
good, but my own experience shows that over 25 per cent 
