Mary Sue, that's the kind of wonderful posting I'm waiting for. And you're so right: I had no idea of the wealth of California gold in Delphinium. Thanks for broadening my horizons. But you had better be careful: you Californians seem to have it so easy that the rest of us may decide to move out there and become Californians, too. Evidently I joined the list just a bit too late; please tell us more. I'm really intrigued. And yes, in my book they are certainly geophytes and not a bit off-topic. Keep it coming! BTW, in saying "I'll bite on this one..."you indicate that you are on to my ways: yes, I use my postings as a sort of sport fishing and put things in my postings hoping someone out there will pick up the ball and run with it (evidently I like to mix metaphors, too; sorry). It's really interesting and cool to hear the experiences of someone who gardens under circumstances so different from my own. Thanks again. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland zone 7 where most Delphinium of any color are problematic At 07:05 AM 1/23/2004 -0800, you wrote: >Dear All, > >O.K. I'll bite on this one. For all of you who have read my comments on >Delphiniums before you can just hit delete. In the early days of another >unnamed bulb list I caused a huge controversy simply by asking if we could >discuss Delphiniums. It was amazing how strongly some people reacted so I >have kept a lower profile about them and have resisted making a wiki page >for them even though I have really wanted to. > >There are some that are definitely tuberous, but others would be described >as perennials with stick like roots. If you used the definition of geophyte >as something that you could put in a envelope and send to someone when it >was dormant, they would surely qualify, but if they had to be bulbs, corms, >tubers or rhizomes, most of them would not. They are in the Ranunculaceae >family and we have a couple of genera in that family with species that are >considered "bulbs", but many species are a stretch. > >In California we have two kinds: those that are coastal and foothill plants >that start into growth after it starts raining usually in winter and bloom >in spring and go dormant in summer and those that live under snow in >winter in the mountains, start to grow when the snow melts and bloom in >the summer. Many of the latter are found in areas that are still quite wet >into summer and can be quite tall. > >I've been growing as many of the coastal and foothill species (many of >which are much shorter) that I can find seed of and am having really good >luck growing them like bulbs, moving them to the shade in summer when they >dry out. They start into growth when it starts raining, sometimes sooner if >I water them in the fall. They are beautiful, long blooming, and have been >really easy for me, returning year after year when I leave them in their >pots. They bloom from seed in 1-3 years for me. > >I've lost some I've planted out, but some of them are returning. I was >quite pleased to see Delphinium luteum returning and looking quite vigorous >this year from one I decided to try in the ground a year ago. I would >suspect the ones that Jane sent out have done just fine. Delphinium luteum >is extremely rare, apparently found in just one place near Bodega Bay, >Sonoma County, California, south of my location (north of San Francisco on >the coast). My climate shouldn't be too different so I'd love to get some >established in my garden. It probably would have made my favorite list if I >thought it would be allowed. I've just added a picture of it to the wiki, >but will take it off in a month or so if the consensus is that we >shouldn't include them. Letting me call them geophytes would make me very >happy. :-) > >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… > >I believe the species Jim mentioned is supposed to be tuberous. Some of the >tuberous ones I grow have very tiny tubers. When he mentioned "the yellow >Delphinium" little did he know that we West Coasters might have a different >species in mind. > >You have to protect these from the snails (and I found this year from the >fall birds who found the leaves quite tasty when they first appeared). Mine >are visited by quite a few pollinators and the seed pods often break apart >before you notice meaning that you will get seedlings in other pots. I have >some mixed Delphinium Cyclamen pots and I haven't quite had the heart to >root them out. The Cyclamens reappear before the Delphininums. > >Mary Sue > >>Jim asked, >>Has anyone out there tried the yellow Delphinium? It qualifies as a >>>geophyte. [D. zalil/sulphureum] > >Mary Sue Ittner >California's North Coast >Wet mild winters with occasional frost >Dry mild summers > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >
