J. WILKINSON ELLIOTT, PITTSBURGH, PA. 
13 
TALL ENGLISH DELPHINIUMS.—From Photograph. 
TALL ENGLISH DELPHINIUMS. 
I am tempted to say that the Improved English Delphiniums are the most beautiful hardy plants in cultivation, but I am 
also tempted to say this of a score of other things, and, of course, it is impossible to say which is the most beautiful of hardy 
plants, for they have such an immense variety of beauty that the wonder grows that people continue to plant bedding plants 
by the million which have little or no beauty, are an annual expense, and cost quite as much as hardy plants whose first cost 
is their only cost and which increases in size, in beauty and often in quantity year after year. These Delphiniums may not be 
the most beautiful hardy plants, but they are among the most beautiful, and nothing can be more distinct and satisfactory. 
They are stately and picturesque, some varieties growing eight feet high in rich soil, they have immense spikes of most beauti¬ 
ful (lowers of every imaginable shade of blue and their season is a long one ; in fact, they will bloom from spring till fall if 
properly treated. 
Hitherto it has been impossible to get satisfactory varieties and plants of English Delphiniums; in fact, no nursery in this 
country has had a satisfactory general stock of hardy plants, and I have had the greatest difficulty in getting the plants specified 
for my landscape gardening work, as this class of plants is extremely difficult to import. The difficulty became so great and my 
work was so hampered by the lack of plants to carry it out that I persuaded one of my most capable horticulturists in this 
country to start a hardy plant nursery and guaranteed the financial results. It is the intention to make this nursery a model of 
its kind and grow everything in hardy plants worthy of culture and to send out nothing but well grown plants packed in the 
most careful manner. The Delphiniums described on next page are one of the offerings of this nursery (The Springdale Nursery") 
CULTURE OF DELPHINIUMS. 
The culture of Delphiniums is exceedingly simple, and the results out of all proportion to the slight amount of care neces¬ 
sary. They thrive in almost any position, and mav be planted at any time of the year, provided that in summer the plants are 
not too forward, and that they be well watered if the weather be dry ; the soil may be a rich friable loam, which suits them 
finely, but any soil, even hot and sand}', if well watered and manured, will give excellent results. Dig deeply—trenching is 
better—add plenty of well-rotted manure, and plant about 2J feet apart. Placed in lines, as a background to a boarder, or in 
groups of say three plants at intervals, the effect of the Delphinium is exceedingly fine. They look well in beds also, arranged 
at the same distance apart each way. They are grand grown in masses of large groups of separate colors, and may be asso¬ 
ciated with shrubs with great advantage, succeeding by their robustness well in shrubberies. A succession of flowers may be 
expected from spring to early autumn, especially if the spikes which have done flowering early be cut down to the ground; 
fresh growth will then be produced, which will give blossom. Copious watering in summer will be attended by increased size 
of spike and flower ; in fact, in seasons of prolonged drouth water is absolutely a necessity on many soils if the varieties are to 
