Salt Lake Telegram | 1936-07-06 | Page 8 | Blue Delphinium Favorite Along Herbaceous Borders

Blue Delphinium Favorite Along Herbaceous Borders By MAUD CHEGWIDDEN Telegram Garden Editor I hope that those of you who have had especially fine line spikes of delphiniums in your gardens lately are permitting at least one spray to ripen seed so that you m may y increase your numbers of this heavenly flower If my ray choice of flowers were to tobe tobe tobe be narrowed down downto to to but one I think it would be the delphinium I 1 should choose although it would be hard to do without the peony and cruel to be deprived of the Iris ins and simply Impossible to not have roses Yet the blueness of the delphinium does make it a flower that is absolutely absolutely absolutely ab ab- ab- ab lovely and quite sible Last Sunday I reveled in the sight ight of ot the finest delphiniums I have ever beheld certainly the largest and best ones grown in this state These were In the garden of Orson A. A Garff Garft president of the Logan Garden club and a member of ot the American Delphinium so so- so This flower is Mr Garff's Gars hobby and he grows it by the tho hundreds hundreds hundreds hun hun- in every shade of ot blue in blue mingled with mauve and pink each spike standing above ones one's head and the Individual florets larger than a dollar doUar I If I had a garden full of such delphiniums I should think myself In the seventh heaven And really every time I look at a a. blooming cluster of blue as the sky I fi am am filled ed with heavenly thoughts thoughts-aren't thoughts aren't arent you dear reader The Tho fields of paradise must be full tuU of such flowers Because the delphinium grows so very easil easily from seed for tho the rankest rankest rank rank- est amateur we should have plenty of oC it in m our gardens Pick out your our largest and richest colored spikes and allow them to remain to ripen their seeds Cut away the poorer spikes as they fade to throw the strength back into the root and encourage a second flowering before before before be be- fore frost Watch the seed pods and as they ripen you will find they start to open at the the- tip This is tho the psychological moment for gathering them If It you delay deJay too long the pods win will fly open and the seeds be scattered Sow the tho seeds immediately in a abed abed abed bed of sandy loam shaded from the hot sun Keep the soil uniformly moist and germination will be surprisingly surprisingly sur sur- swift By fall fine young plants will have rewarded your ef ef- ef- ef forts Three years ears ago I had 75 plants of ot exquisite delphiniums raised from seeds which had cost be 6 cents each imported from Wales Vales That was the summer that Utah lake Jake was so low no water would flow from it along our irrigation ditches and my poor delphiniums couldn't stand the drouth All AU but two of them died and since that time I have never been able to build up the stock that I wanted But now I Iam Iam Iam am watching seed pods turn brown and next summer shall shaU see myriads of the azure spikes In my herbaceous herbaceous herbaceous herba herba- borders or Ill I'll know the reason reason rea rca son why