Delphinium (Staggerweed, Larkspur)

Common Name: Delphinium, Staggerweed, Larkspur

Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Ranunculales

Family: Ranunculaceae

Genus: Delphinium

Delphinium is commonly known as “larkspur” or “staggerweed”. It is a genus of 300 species in the family Ranunculaceae. The high mountains of Tropical Africa and the Northern Hemisphere are the home to these flowers. This flower is found in colors ranging from blue, pink, red, yellow, violet, white etc.

These are mostly found as single or double flowers, which are produced on the spikes of the plants. The center of these flowers is generally black or white and is called bee. The leaves of these flowers give an appearance like maple leaves. These flowers have a very good shelf life as cut flowers. They are available as many hybrid varieties as well.

The gardeners also love these flowers and also the florists like this flower because of its beauty and elegant appearance. Since these plants grow in dwarf as well as tall varieties, this makes them useful in many ways. Sometimes its simply a decorative flower inside houses and sometimes its grown in the gardens as single plant or in groups.

How to Grow:

The plant needs properly moist soil all the time which should now be drenched with water and mild sunlight. Very hot sunlight may not be good for these flowers and hence it is advised to keep them in indirect sunlight to have a healthy garden.

The most suitable season for planting these flowers in your garden is the spring season. These are the steps that should be followed for planting a delphinium in your garden:

1. Take a pot with soil that is made rich in organic content by mixing manure or compost to it.
2. These can be grown out of seeds as well, but thats not very easy to do hence it is advised to buy them from nurseries as potted plants.
3. Make a hole in the ground that is twice as big as the pot and then place the plant in this hole.
4. Make sure that you water this plant at regular intervals so that the soil is moist and doesn’t dry up.
5. Till the soil at regular intervals to provide proper air supply to the roots of the plant.

Propagation:

The plant can be grown using the seeds, which germinate at temperature of 65-70 F within a period of 2-3 weeks.

This can also be done by using the basal cuttings from the adult plants. Flowering from these plants starts from the spring of the year following the one they were sown outdoors.

Uses:

Because of their beautiful appearance as flowers and their nicely shaped leaves they have many uses. These are used as decorative plants in the gardens and also inside the households. The flowers are very much suitable for decorative purposes because of their high shelf life as cut flowers.


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