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FAR R * S 
H YBRID 
DELPHINIUM 
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f*HE improved Delphinium of today is a grand and stately plant. Its tall spires of bloom, 
rising to a height of 5 to 6 feet, supply our gardens with a wealth of blue that would be 
sadly lacking were it not for these magnificent plants. 
No other flowers combine so many varied shades of this lovely color, the rarest in the 
LaMJv* g ar dcn. The soft azure of the forget-me-not, the rich blue of the gentian, and the deep 
sapphire and royal purple hues, all are represented, and form a brilliant setting to the 
small, white-, gold- or black-centered petals, while over all this is suffused a beautiful 
rose iridescence impossible to describe. 
In whatever situation they are placed, whether at the rear of the border, among shrubbery, or in 
groups along walks and drives, they are equally effective, always exciting the utmost admiration, and 
one can hardly say enough in praise of these useful plants. 
It would be difficult to say which one admires most—some of the new single types, with their very 
tall, vigorous growth and their very long, beautifully formed spikes, the individual flowers sometimes 
measuring over 2 inches in diameter, with a center eye of changing black or pure white, or the large, semi¬ 
double blooms, with an outer set of petals of various shades of blue and an inner set of petals of a contrast¬ 
ing shade, with conspicuous brown, black, or white centers, with occasionally, here and there, one that is 
full double. 
Culture. —For the best results they require a soil that is well enriched and deeply cultivated. The 
choice European varieties sometimes suffer in our hot, dry climate, and they should be given a good supply 
of water. A good mulching is beneficial in a dry time, or the ground may have an undergrowth of dwarf, 
shallow-rooting plants to furnish a protection from the hot sun. If the spikes are cut down as soon as they 
are through blooming, others will spring up in their place, prolonging the season of bloom from June to 
November. They are perfectly hardy, and may be planted at any time in spring or fall, unless too much 
advanced in growth. All Delphiniums during extremely hot weather are liable to be attacked by a fungus 
at the crown, perfectly healthy plants suddenly wilting and dying, and the loss of a small percentage of 
plants is to be expected. This may be checked by mixing equal parts of hydrated lime and flour of sulphur 
with water, and pouring it around the base of the plants at the first indication of this trouble. 
The choice named varieties are increased slowly by division, and for that reason are high priced, and 
they do not possess the vigor of young seedlings. I am trying to develop a race of Delphiniums that will 
be adapted to our climate, and every year raise thousands of seedlings which are, in every way, equal to 
the finest imported varieties. By careful selection I have succeeded in raising a strain of wonderful beauty 
and size, hardly two alike. I advise everyone to try these seedlings, in preference to the named varieties, 
knowing that they will give the greatest satisfaction. 
For several years the demand for these seedling Delphiniums has been so great that it has been im¬ 
possible to raise a sufficient supply until now. I have at last a fine stock of plants that have all bloomed this 
past season. The flowers are unusually large, many of them 2 inches in diameter, in every combination of 
color imaginable, from the palest azure-blue to the deepest indigo. 
Some of these new seedlings growing in my fields have produced flower-spikes almost 6 feet tall, with 
a mass of flowers extending nearly a third of the length of the stem. I believe that everyone who plants 
these seedling varieties will become an ardent admirer of Delphiniums, for they are unusually striking in 
their shades of color, particularly so when planted in masses against a background of tall-growing shrub¬ 
bery; the intense blue of the flowers makes a wonderfully effective show against the green foliage of the 
shrubs. Even after the blooms are gone the plants are useful as fillers. 
Farr’s Delphiniums, Wyomissing Hybrids 
Semi-double and Single, grown from seed of the finest named varieties, extra-large flowers in 
many beautiful shades, 30 cts. each, $3 per doz., $20 per 100. 
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