Well, the Delphs I sowed from seed in mid May are still looking good with quite a few leaves on them. Can anyone tell me, can I leave them in a cold greenhouse over winter of do they need protection? They are 'Greentwist' and X Cultorum C Rose F1 hybrid. At the moment they are in 5" pots. I thought best to repot them in spring? Any help welcome, thanks.
That should be fine... although I'd be tempted to plant them out so that they get their roots established as they die back... :-\
Congratulations on your success! I seeded some with seed taken from this yrs. plants. Only one sprouted. I thought, well one is better than none so nursed it for days til it looked strong. The next day the one seedling was g-o-n-e, GONE. So I hope you have continued success. They seem to be a difficult plant but very beautiful and worth the work.
OK, showing my ignorance here, never grown them before. I didn't realise that they die back (completely ?) in winter. Would it be a good idea to pot them up into larger pots now to allow for more root growth during winter?
GrannieAnnie, out of about 30 seed sown, I got six to germinate, so I don't want to lose any of them :)
Quote from: terrier on October 14, 2009, 11:22:41
OK, showing my ignorance here, never grown them before. I didn't realise that they die back (completely ?) in winter. Would it be a good idea to pot them up into larger pots now to allow for more root growth during winter?
GrannieAnnie, out of about 30 seed sown, I got six to germinate, so I don't want to lose any of them :)
That sounds about like my success last year and lost some of those over the winter. I got prouder and prouder of the few that survived to bloom! I hope yours make you exceptionally proud.
the only way I could get delphiniums to work for me was to overwinter them in pots (big pots) Same with hollyhocks. Our problem was very wet heavy soil. They'd either rot off, or would start so slowly in the Spring the slugs got them, and the hollyhocks needed a big boost at the start to keep the rust at bay
If it's any help about temperature wise, we have two plants that we transplanted to this garden when we first moved in. 1968, the plants are still just two plants but some years we get about 12 stems on them with lots of blossoms.
They don't get any special treatment other than a stake to hold them up. We have heavy clay soil, and remember it gets blooming cold here.
The odd year we get a second helping of blooms, not so many or as big but super just the same.
funny though they never seem to self seed other than may about 3 you will find, but they die off at about 3 inches, BTW, I think these are Pacific
Giant if that means any thing...... qahtan
Thanks for your input, everyone. My worry is with them being first year plants and quite small they may not be very hardy. I'm thinking that I will put them into much larger pots and leave them in the geenhouse over winter with some bubblewrap for protection when the weather gets really cold in Feb and March. Fingers crossed for some flowers next year.
Molly coddled Delphiniums. :-))))
What they going to do next year. :-)))
Remember it gets C O L D here. so cold that we don't even have brass monkeys any more :-))))
Bad. qahtan
Like the picture of your Woofa, is he yours......?
Many years ago I bought some seeds from Chelsea flower show. They were quite expensive but their 'mothers' looked gorgeous. I got quite a few to germinate and nurtured them for weeks in pots and put them outside. How proud I was!
Next morning there was not one whisker left. :(
;D Qahtan, I take it delphs are fully hardy (said I knew nothing about them). All I have to do is keep the slugs at bay, then.
Yes, the woofa is one we bred. She's a Welsh Terrier called Guinness :)
What happened to your Delphs, Digeroo, a meal for the slugs?
Terrier this webpage may be of interest!
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/gardening/delphiniums.shtml
Thanks for that link, Flighty. I've read up loads of sites for growing Delphs and that one seems to give pretty much the same advice. What none of the sites seem to say (and this was my original query) is how the young plants in pots will cope with sub zero temps. I know I can leave seedlings such as S/Peas out in the cold and they seem to thrive on it but I've no experience of delphiniums. The article in your link suggests keeping the pot plants indoors until ready to plant out in spring, which suggests to me that they are not that hardy. ???
Anyway, I'm going to err on the side of caution and wrap'em up warm when the cold hits!
Well, I left the 5 pots of Delphs in the cold greenhouse all through the cold weather and I now have 5 delphs sprouting ;D So far, so good.
Hearing about your success now makes me wish I'd found one minute last fall to plant some.
quatan, I read that if you prune them down after the first blooms you'll get a second. It worked on the few I have though the second blooming wasn't as spectacular.
Update! I now have five delphiniums in full flower, they're gorgeous. I was worried about them being eaten by slugs so I'm growing them in large tubs (with trailing carnations). Next Q, can I still sow more seed now for next year, or am I too late?