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mstywoods

unknown flower

mstywoods
13 years ago

I have a garden area in our yard that the former owner planted with a lot of nice plants, but some of these I am unfamiliar with.

There a quite of few of these plants. They have sort of a dill-like leaf, and have multiple smallish purple flowers. I pulled some of these up today, as they are coming up everywhere. Does anyone know what this plant is, and if it comes up from seed only or if transplanting will work? I potted up some of the plants I pulled in case they can be transplanted, and can bring these to the swap.

Here's a pic of it, when it was in bloom. It is going to seed now.

Comments (10)

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    13 years ago

    ItÂs Delphinium grandiflorum, Misty! I LOVE them, and am trying to always keep some going here and there in my yard. The most common variety youÂll find around is ÂBlue ButterflyÂÂa great name!Âand ÂBlue Mirror is probably the next most common variety.

    Sometimes youÂll find people referring to it as D. chinensis, but, to the best of my knowledge, grandiflorum is the correct species name.

    TheyÂre a very short-lived "perennial!" Sometimes the same plant will come back for a year or two, and sometimes they bloom and just die. But they reseed very easily, so (assuming you want to keep them) just wait for the seed to ripen and save it to replant wherever you want more. The seed drops pretty easily when itÂs fully ripe, so you need to be checking often when the seed pods start to brown. Individual plants are pretty small, so having a bunch of them like you do, gives you a much better "show."

    They come in all shades of (true) blue and purple. I had one I called ELECTRIC blue, and I was hoping to keep that color, but they cross pollinate, and I havenÂt had any of that color show up this year. Hope it still comes back for me sometime! (IÂm always looking for "true" blue perennials, since there are so few of them!)

    I had one last year that was more of a medium true blue color that I also really liked (didnÂt get a pic of it), and I was hoping it would come back but it didnÂt. But this spring I almost pulled out something that was growing a foot or so away from that one when I realized what it was and let it growÂbut it turned out to be purple.

    They generally grow about 15" to 18" high, and, as near as I can tell, can take most any light conditionsÂprobably not full shade!

    If you manage to collect more seed than you can use, IÂd be interested in some of it when we do BonnieÂs Seed Exchange this coming winter!

    Happy Delphinium-ing,
    Skybird

    P.S. Yes, you should be able to transplant them, but if theyÂre budding or blooming, it might be really hard to do it successfullyÂespecially with this heat. Your best bet would be to dig up plants that arenÂt budding yet. Anybody who gets one at the swap would be able to keep it going by doing the seed thing!

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you, Skybird! Delphinium - finally I know what it is :^) Ooo, I do like that electric blue one you had/have! Hope you get that color again!!

    I do like this plant - it's very delicate and gives an old fashioned look to the garden. I just want to control where they are growing a bit, so that's why I pulled some up. They aren't budding, but rather the buds are turning to seed pods. The ones I pulled up have quite a few roots on them, so hopefully they will do ok in their pots. I will bring them to the swap in case others might want some. I will also watch the seed pods and try collecting the seeds for you and the seed exchange!

  • abq_bob
    13 years ago

    Looks like Larkspur to me - which is a member of the delphinium family...

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    13 years ago

    Larkspur was my first guess as well. If there is a long spur at the rear of the fl, that is it.

    Dan

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    13 years ago

    But guys, there is no Genus LarkspurÂlarkspur is the common name used for DelphiniumÂso are you talking about the annual kind of "larkspur?" That one goes by so many different names that IÂm not sure about this, but I believe the "proper" name for that is Consolida ajacis. It also goes by: Consolida ambigua, Delphinium ajacis, Delphinium ambiguum, and I think maybe a couple more.

    If youÂre talking about the Consolida, I considered that one, but Misty didnÂt mention any colors but the purple in the picture, and since the annual "larkspur" comes in pinks and white too, I kind of assumed sheÂd have some of all the colors and would have said something about more colors. ThatÂs how I made the decision that it must be the dwarf DelphiniumÂwhich "acts" very much like the annual, and looks a lot like it too.

    Does yours come in any other colors than blues and purples, Misty? It really could be either, and IÂm not sure IÂd know positively which one it was even if I saw it in person. I have several different Delphinium grandiflorums, and both the foliage and the flowers/spurs can look quite different on different plants. (Also have the annual larkspur, referred to as ÂRocket"Âfrom Stevation). Consolida is also supposed to get taller than the D. grandiflorum, but when IÂve had ones I knew for sure were the Consolida, theyÂve always been in the same height range as my Delphinium (the one in my "electric blue" picture was MUCH taller the first year it bloomedÂpic was the second year). How tall are yours? I guess the best way to try to be sure would be to watch to see if any of the same plants that are growing this year come back again next yearÂwhether they bloomed this year or not. If ALL the plants you have next year come from seedlings next spring, then itÂs more likely the Consolida

    If you decide to keep an eye on them over winter, Misty, let us know "what they do!"

    Skybird

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Wow!! This is exciting - didn't know this would be such a debate ;^). You guys certainly know a LOT more about plants than I do :^D and I appreciate learning from you!!

    I do have purple and white. I've only seen them bloom twice since we've only lived here since last July, so forgot about the white ones. Here is a better shot of the purple one (the white one only has a few old blooms, so they don't show the original form too well).

    The stalks vary in height - the tallest right now is about 30", but most of the rest are about half that height. The plants themselves are looking pretty ragged, as I suspect they are going dormant now. That's why I was wondering if they come back from the roots, or if they are growing back from the seeds they drop. Here is a shot of the seed pods on one of the plants, in case this helps to determine which variety it is:

    Thanks so much!!
    Marj

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    13 years ago

    Hi Misty,

    If you have white, you have the annual one, and if theyÂre up to 30" tall, you have the annual one, so IÂd say you have the annual one! ;-) So then itÂs the Consolida ajacisÂor whichever name you choose to use.

    The Delphinium grandiflorum is usually about 12-18", and IÂve never seen it over two feet. IÂd say thereÂs no question with your new information. So that means they should all die over winter, and if you want to have some next year youÂll need to leave some of the seeds drop, or collect them and plant/spread them where you want them, or start some in pots next spring to plant out where you want them. If you donÂt have any of the pinks, you may want to pick up a pack of seed next springÂI think you can only get the pink in mixed packs. The pink ones can be really pretty.

    And, as you can tell, I highly recommend the dwarf Delphinium too! Also easy to grow, and you can get some really cool blues. You can get plants at "real" garden centers, but itÂs also very easy to start from seed.

    Skybird

    P.S. The seed pods look the same on both of them.

  • Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
    13 years ago

    I forgot to include the 'ironic' emoticon when posting, as a contrast to Skybird. Maybe under caffeinated...

    ;o)

    Dan

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    13 years ago

    IÂm really glad there was a way to figure out which it was, Âcause I woulda been wondering all winter what it was! They sure are pretty thingsÂall of them!

    Skybird

    P.S. No caffeine here, Dan! IÂm an absolutely, positively raving lunatic when I do caffeine, and IÂd probably be permanently banned from GW if I posted when I was under the influence!
    :-)

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks so much for this info! Well, so that helps explain why these have been coming up in a wild pattern - the seeds are dropping where they will, with the help of the wind. I will harvest the some of the seeds, and place them in where I'd prefer them to grow next season! I can try to share some seeds at the seed exchange as well, but I now won't bother bringing any of the plants I pulled up at the fall swap since they only regrow from seed.

    I agree, Skybird, they are pretty. I'll look for the pink and blue varieties as well!

    Thanks again,
    Marj

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