Delphinium

Delphinium is a genus in the Ranunculaceae family found in America, Asia, Europe, and even Africa. Many of the species grow from woody rootstocks or clusters of tubers and die back part of the year. These species are the ones that we will include on this wiki page. Some may argue that they are not really geophytes. They are of varying height and color with blues and purples being the most common. Snails and slugs love this genus. This genus is notoriously difficult to key out so pictures of leaves and flowers are important to have. Pictures and information about the species pictured on the wiki can be found by clicking on the species pages or the individual species link from the table below.

Seeds of Delphinium are known to have short viability. However, Mary Sue Ittner who grows many species in coastal central California suggests that California species may not follow the same pattern and have longer viability than reported based on personal observations. Seeds of winter growing species should be sown in the fall, watered and allowed to grow throughout the rainy winter so that the seedlings will have formed a large enough rootstock before they go dormant in the summer. As with other geophytes, they like a well-drained mix. Allow adult plants to go into dormancy normally. Small species can be grown in a one gallon pot, but larger species such as D. cardinale require larger root room.

Information on named species can be found on the wiki pages below:

or by clicking on the name of the species in the table.

Delphinium species
Delphinium bakeri	Delphinium cardinale	Delphinium decorum	Delphinium hansenii
Delphinium hesperium	Delphinium hybrid	Delphinium luteum	Delphinium nudicaule
Delphinium parryi	Delphinium patens	Delphinium purpusii	Delphinium recurvatum
Delphinium sp.	Delphinium tricorne	Delphinium variegatum