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ELLIOTT NURSERY COMPANY, PITTSBURG, PA. 
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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 
beaut}*, are an annual expense, and cost quite as much as hardy plants, whose first cost is their only cost and which increase 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 beautiful flowers 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 the most capable horticulturists in this country to start a hardy-plant nursery and guar¬ 
anteed the financial results. It is the intention to make this nursery a model of its kind and grow everything in hardy plants worthy of cul¬ 
ture 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. 
CULTURE OF DELPHINIUMS.— The culture of Delphiniums is exceedingly simple, and the results out of all proportion to the slight 
amount of care necessary. They thrive in almost any position, and may 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 sandy, if well watered and manured, will give excellent results. Dig deeply—trenching is better—add 
plenty of well-rotted manure, and plant about 2% feet apart. Placed in lines, as a background to a border, 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. 
Thoy are grand grown in masses of large groups of separate colors, and may be associated 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 drought water is absolutely a necessity on 
many soils if the varieties are to exhibit themselves in their true size and beauty of flower and spike. Top-dressing is greatly recommended 
on certain soils, instead of the bare surface of the ground being left exposed to the sun. Some of the neater dwarf alpine and other hardy 
plants may be utilized to plant between and around Delphiniums. Coal ashes strewn over the crowns will protect the plants from slugs 
through winter and spring. As we have intimated, any garden soil suits the Delphiniums; it is, however, necessary to secure sorts such as 
are offered below, in order to obtain an effect superior to that afforded by the cld smaller-flowered varieties. No amount of liberal treatment 
will cause the smaller-flowered kinds of a few years back to develop into* the gorgeous hybrids of today. 
”The Delphiniums were the first thing that attracted my attention, for they were just at their best and there was just about one acre of 
them. They made such a sight as I shall not soon forget, so vast was the quantity in bloom, so grand the spikes, and so rich and varied the 
different shades of blue. Although I have been a grower of these lovely hardy border plants for some twenty years, I was not prepared to 
see so much improvement in color, and was much struck with the intensity of the shade in many varieties as compared with the old Bella 
donna. The varieties which have a shade of bronze in the center are also very fine, the contrast between the bronze center and the deep blue 
exterior being very striking. But the shades of color in many of the newer sorts almost baffle description, and I shall not attempt it. It is in 
the doubles and semi-doubles that the greatest advancement has been made, and many of them are truly lovely. They are much larger and 
more compact than the old doubles of the Ranunculoides type, and consequently are much more valuable for ordinary garden adornment. The 
