THERE is a great excitement and satisfaction in plants which fulfil their promise in a few short years and then continue to please" and increase with passing time. The long patience required to. bring a Handkerchief Tree? Davidia involucrata to flower 15 to 20 years usually can be daunting and requires a faith in the future as much as space for a potentially large tree. The sight of the Handkerchief Tree in flower hung with papery white bracts reminiscent of large linen handkerchiefs is breathtaking and can cause pangs of envy, but it is obviously not, for every garden.
There are easier" and shorter routes to a mid summer crescendo and what flowers at this time could challenge the majesty of delphiniums. True, they require a little care, and the returns will be in proportion to the effort expended. A plant which can awaken from ground level in spring, grow to a height of six or more feet (yes, I know some people have delphiniums ten feet high) by mid summer, to produce a succession of stately blue spires, and then to die away to ground level in autumn, has a magical quality.
Those of us accustomed to the cycle and growth of herbaceous perennials take it all for granted. They come up, they flower and in the end of the garden year they fade away until spring awakens them again. To new gardeners who usually start with woody plants shrubs, trees, roses there is a mystery in the behaviour of the herbaceous, and too often a fear of and reluctance about the unknown.
For the uninitiated, delphiniums may not be the easiest and simplest plants to begin with an unhappy relationship with a young delphinium might put the novice off entirely.
They are fussy and they live by the rules. Here I am thinking of the large flowered garden hybrids whose development started over 190 years ago. The flowers are single or double on tall spires in every shade of blue stretching into violet, mauve, purple and tones which are almost pink. There are good white flowered forms around and also a pale yellow. In short there are delphiniums to suit almost every colour scheme.
You may have heard of red delphiniums and even seen them I did see them once myself. Plant breeders have this irresistible urge to break into new colours, to produce something different. I would not be bothered with it myself, and I do not hanker after blue roses or red delphiniums. Delphiniums to most of us are essentially blue, and it is for that blue effect at mid-summer that we grow them.
The most economical way to start is with a packet of seed. Two years from sowing there will be respectable plants. There is one great enemy, the army of slugs. which await tasty soft herbaceous growth in many gardens. Be prepared to take action as you consider appropriate to protect young growth from early spring.
In some cases sharp grit ashes half grapefruit skins or beer may be sufficient to protect the plants in others slug pellets will be used. Some fortunate gardeners will get" away without too much effort.
THEN there is the question of where to grow your delphiniums. They need an open sunny position under a tree will be useless and shelter from the worst winds. Exposed gardens on the coast or on a windy hillside will not be ideal as delphiniums grow tall and grow quickly and their stems can "be very soft and will quickly snap under pressure. To help keep them erect and to withstand the buffeting to be expected in the average garden, support will be essential. The most effective in my experience is a surround of bamboo canes close to the stems. Those need to be three or four feet high and a cat's cradle of strings running in every direction between the canes will keep most stems in place.
The real secret of success is, however, in cultivation of the ground where the prized blue spires are to rise and dominate. Ground must be well dug and it must be rich, rich, rich. So lots and lots of farmyard manure should be dug in. Failing that, dig in lots of compost or the best organic material available. The very best delphiniums are those living on real farmyard dung.