How to grow a delphinium on your site
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Delphinium flower
Delphinium is also very often called "Spornik". This plant grows in many areas and is very popular with gardeners. Together with this plant, absolutely any site takes on a noble and well-groomed appearance.
Another plus of this wonderful plant is that it easily tolerates both drought and very severe frosts. And thanks to the original shapes and colors of flowers, any garden will look very original. The delphinium has just a huge number of species and varieties, there are more than 400 of them. Delphinium flowers have just a huge number of colors. But most often in the gardens there are various shades of blue. Another originality of this plant is that it can bloom twice in one season.
For a delphinium, you need to choose the right place where it will grow for more than one year. By itself, this is not a whimsical plant at all, and caring for it does not take much of your time and effort. The main thing is the place on your site. Delphinium is very fond of the sun, but does not tolerate a draft. In general, in growing it, it is important that in the morning the plant is completely in the sunlight, but in the afternoon, it needs partial shade. Before planting a plant, the land must be fertilized with manure or compost.
Delphinium is also liked by gardeners not only for its beauty, but also for the fact that it easily tolerates frosts up to -40 degrees. All that is initially needed when planting a delphinium is the place you have chosen, dug up and fertilized in advance. But the initial fertilization, however, like the subsequent ones, must be carried out carefully. The main thing in this business is not to overdo it. Also, keep in mind that this plant does not really like acidic soil, so if it is exactly like this on your site, then before planting it needs to be corrected by creating a balance with the help of various dressings.
Delphinium landing
In general, there are several ways to grow a delphinium. Some gardeners prefer to plant it by seed. But in this case, the gardener is very at risk of simply being left without plants, because the seeds very often do not germinate, but simply germinate, or the grown plant will bloom very late. And some plant the plant using shoots that are initially grown at home, and only the grown plant is grown in open ground.
The wells for growing delphinium should be no more than 5 cm deep. Since the size of the plant depends on the variety that you decide to grow, the distance between the seedlings must be determined strictly individually. When planting young plants, the root collar needs to be buried a little.
Delphinium care
In fact, caring for a delphinium is very simple, although initially it may seem difficult. But despite its originality and beauty, this plant is not whimsical at all. All the delphinium needs is regular and competent watering, complete removal of all weeds, timely and correct feeding, literate pruning and erecting a support.
This flower tolerates winter frosts very easily, so there is no need to insulate it or transplant it for the winter. At the very beginning of summer, the flower begins to bloom. In dry weather, the delphinium definitely needs watering, but it should be in moderation, since stagnant water can very much harm the plant. Watering the plant must be carried out correctly, it must be watered strictly at the root, but if water gets on the leaves of the plant, they can get sunburn.
If the plant is properly cared for, it can bloom for almost two months. But he needs regular pruning of those stems that have already finished blooming. With regular watering and pruning, in a very short time, closer to autumn, the delphinium will bloom again.
The best time to grow this wonderful plant is 3 years. There is simply no point in growing a delphinium bush longer, because its central stem simply begins to rot and such a bush will no longer bloom. Also, the delphinium can very often be exposed to both various diseases and pests.
After the plant has completely stopped blooming, wilted flowers must be cropped... It is from this pruning that the shrub will bloom next year.
Delphinium pruning must be carried out correctly, therefore, before carrying out this procedure, you must fully study all the information. In general, pruning a delphinium should be divided into two stages: initially, when the shoots and processes grow to 30 cm, only the strongest and healthiest should be left, and no more than 5 pieces, the rest should be simply removed. This is very important in order for the plant to use all its strength on healthy shoots, and to produce large and beautiful flowers. As for spring, the delphinium does not require any more care.
The second stage of pruning depends on whether you will be leaving the seeds for the plant. If not, you can simply cut the shrub completely off. If you decide to plant the plant next year, then cut the plant, leaving only one flowering shoot on the bush so that the seeds can ripen well by autumn and you can sow them.
Be sure to prune the shrub after it has faded, the beauty of your garden depends on it, because an uncut bush can ruin the entire beauty of the site, and in this case it will not look well-groomed.
Delphinium is obligatory need support, or you can just tie it up. This should be done within a couple of weeks after the first, spring pruning has passed, because already at this time the strongest shoots can grow up to half a meter.
It is best to install a support for this shrub in advance. More precisely, you need to drive stakes around the bush, and in due time you need to tie up shoots to them, but the stakes must be installed very carefully so as not to hurt or damage the root system of the plant. After the plant has completely bloomed in the fall, and the leaves completely wither, there is no need to prune the shoots, otherwise water can get into it and the plant will simply start to rot, and subsequently die.
Reproduction of delphinium
The delphinium has a huge number of species, they can be both annual and perennial. Also, the delphinium can be crossed and cultural, these species are generally considered the most popular and suitable. It is very simple to propagate a delphinium, it can be grown from seeds, or by dividing a bush. If you want the cut delphinium flowers to stand in the vase for as long as possible, then you should cut them until they have bloomed to the end.
As for the reproduction of the delphinium by dividing the bush, the bush itself does not really like it. And even regardless of the age of the divisible bush, part of the bush can die very quickly. The division of the bush must be carried out very carefully, because you cannot simply cut the bush in half, the plant in this case will simply die.
You need to divide the bush either in early spring or already in the fall. To do this, the bush must be very carefully dug out so that the buds of the plant are not damaged. The bush itself must be separated by hand, the only thing that can be used in this case is a sharp, clean knife. But those places where the roots were cut off must be processed after dividing. Plain wood ash is best suited for this. It is a little strange that those varieties of delphinium that are pink and white react very sharply to the division of the bush.
Delphinium can be grown directly from seed. This method is the most affordable for growing delphiniums. It is necessary to sow the seeds of this plant for seedlings in early March. The temperature for germinating seeds must be at least +12 degrees. Seeds rarely need to be sown in a container, because they absolutely do not tolerate tightness. After planting, there is nothing special in growing seedlings; it must be looked after in the same way as all other plants that are grown using seedlings. In early June, seedlings can already be planted in open ground. It can be planted both immediately in a permanent place and comply with all growing conditions, or planted in a greenhouse on a special bed and planted in a permanent place only after a year. Those plants that were grown in seedlings in the first year of life can bloom very poorly and little. But in the future, it will bloom for a long time, a lot and abundantly. If you decide to sow seeds directly into open ground, then they should be more carefully cared for. First of all, the place for sowing must be dug to the depth of the bayonet of a bayonet shovel, be sure to add fertilizer there and, ideally, a little wood ash. But keep in mind that the ash must be clean and free from absolutely any impurities.
For sowing, special beds are made for seedlings, which must be watered well with warm water before sowing seeds. Sowing seeds is rarely necessary and after that it is best to cover it with plastic wrap. You need to water the beds every two days and after a month the seedlings will sprout.
The seedlings need constant care, watering, feeding and gentle loosening. And after a year, the seedlings can be planted in a new place.
Next to what you can plant a delphinium
Delphinium is very rarely planted as a separate shrub, mostly it is planted together with other perennial plants. Although annuals will also grow beautifully next to it. The only condition for planting is that those plants that grow nearby should be no higher than the delphinium.
Due to the fact that the delphinium is not whimsical at all, it makes life much easier for gardeners. You can land a delphinium absolutely anywhere. It will also fully emphasize the beauty of the flowers growing nearby, as well as the exquisite taste of the owners of the site on which it is planted.