Planting, Growing, and Caring for Delphinium
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Oh, the delightful delphinium! The stalwart of many summer flower gardens, these showy perennials are grown for their long, colorful spikes in blue and other gorgeous hues. Flowering all summer, delphiniums are butterfly and hummingbird magnets, too! Learn how to plant, grow, and care for delphiniums.
About Delphinium Flowers
Delphinium is a genus in the Ranunculaceae family. (They’re often confused with larkspur, which are a different plant species.) There are more than 300 delphinium species, so there is quite a variety of heights, from dwarf hybrids to 6-foot tall beauties, so they can be planted in the front, middle, or back of a perennial border. The blue delphinium is most common, but varieties also come in gorgeous shades of violet, pink, white, red, and purple. They are popular in both cottage-style and cutting gardens.
Most delphiniums are short-lived perennials, lasting 2 or 3 years in the garden. Some varieties will bloom throughout the entire summer if the plants are cut back regularly. Other hybrids bloom from early to mid-summer and will produce a second flower display in late summer or early fall if you cut off the old flower stalk.
What’s important to know about delphiniums is that they will thrive if you meet their specific conditions. Delphiniums prefer moist, cool summers; they do not fare well in hot, dry weather or sudden wind or rain, which can knock them down. Most varieties will need staking. See more details below.
Are Delphinium Poisonous?
Yes, delphiniums are highly poisonous. If seeds and seedlings are ingested, they can cause nausea, twitching muscles, paralysis, and even death. This is mainly a concern for grazing animals such as cattle, horses, and sheep, and it is also a caution to gardeners with small children.
Growing
- Delphiniums are heavy feeders. Apply a balanced liquid fertilizer starting in early spring every 2 to 3 weeks.
- Insert sturdy stake supports no later than mid-spring or when the plants reach 12 inches high.
- Do not allow the soil to dry out, but avoid puddling. Water plants during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
- For ideal flower spikes, thin side shoots at 3 inches high, leaving 2 or 3 shoots on young plants and 5 to 7 shoots on mature, well-established ones.
- Deadhead by cutting spent flower spikes back to small, flowering side shoots.
- After delphiniums have finished blooming, cut flower stalks to the ground, and new, though smaller, flower stalks will develop. The flowers will survive the coming cold days and even light frosts. (See local frost dates.)
- Every 3 to 4 years, divide plants in spring: Remove and replant the new little plants growing around the outside of the clump. Discard the hard old heart.
Types
- Belladonna Group: blue flowers native to North America; easier to grow and longer-lived than varieties in the Elatum Group (below); upright, loose, and branching perennials; secondary flower spikes extend bloom period into autumn; 3 to 4 feet tall. ‘Blue Donna’ has clear, blue flowers.
- Elatum Group: tallest varieties in shades of violet, blue, pink, and/or white; short-lived; reach 6 feet tall or more. ‘Aurora Deep Purple’ has purple flowers with a white center.
- Pacific Hybrids: 3-inch violet, blue, and pink flowers; short-lived; tolerate warm/hot climates as annuals; giant (3- to 6-foot) heirlooms and dwarf hybrids. ‘King Arthur’, 5 to 6 feet tall, has plum flowers with white centers.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Can I plant in a large pot? Is it an annual?
Delphiniums are perennials, so they will come back each year as long as they are hardy in your planting zone. You can plant delphiniums in pots, but be sure to use a pot that has a drainage hole and has loose, well-draining soil.
Hello! We recently had some heavy winds and I was unaware to stake my delphiniums in the spring so they all tipped over. I tried lifting a couple but two broke at the base so I stopped moving them. Can a person still salvage them somehow? Will broken ones still come back next year?
Thanks!!
Good question! If your delphiniums were allowed to bloom normally, you would cut back the stalks after the flowers died. Your delphiniums should have no problem coming back next year.
I recently purchased and planted my Larkspur in a large pot on my patio The flowers are blooming, but the leaves appear to be burning. It gets morning and mid day sun. Any suggestions?
If by burning you mean turning yellow, your plant could be afflicted with a disease and, honestly, there are too many options to cite here. At this link << http://extension.psu.edu/pests/plant-diseases/all-fact-sheets/delphinium-diseases >> you will find a number of conditions, symptom descriptions, causes, and remedies. We hope you can find a solution…without having to destroy the plant. However, if that appears to be the best “management” as it’s called on this chart (at the link), you should consider returning the plant to the vendor, as the disease may have originated there, or at least telling the vendor of your experience.
I bought one and it is dying I keep it watered what am I doing wrong
I bought one and it is dying I keep it watered what am I doing wrong
I cut my first set of very tall and bountiful blooms down and the shoots that are coming up now are already set to flower. However the spikes are significantly shorter and have many less buds. Are they usually supposed to have this happen?
It is typical of delphinium’s second bloom stalk to be smaller than the first. Take heart in the fact that you are doing everything right: Some gardeners find this a difficult plant to grow!
