Brilliant gentian blue flowers on 24in plants with finely cut, deep green leaves. Starts in June and flowers all summer if deadheaded. Lasts a week in water. Treat as a biennial. This is the best Delphinium for the South.

The tall hybrid Delphiniums are the outstanding elements of every well-bred garden. However, dwarf forms and the sturdy and graceful species are equally charming in their own way and a good deal more durable. The colors of the species are stunning, and the period of bloom is long, in part because well-tended plants produce secondary spikes in late summer and fall. Delphiniums are magnificent in a border, and we suggest you plant at least a few in the cutting garden, for the spikes, if cut when a quarter of the flowers are open, last a week in water. Delphiniums require full sun and rich soil amended with lime. In the South, they are best planted in the fall and treated as cool-season annuals. Gardeners in the desert Southwest should skip them altogether.