I have always grown and offered for sale the 'Pacific Giant' series and have had good experiences with them (except for the year that I over-fertilized and they all crashed). I wonder if anyone has grown the 'New Millennium' series from New Zealand and if they really are better.

I'm all for low maintenance no-fuss plants. I was a novice when I decided to try delphs and had no idea really what they were. I tried three of the tall delph varieties: Red Caroline, a light blue one that I cannot remember, and Pagan Purples, which is one of the New Millenium series. None performed well or grew for more than one year, except Pagan Purples. I have grown it for 7 or 8 years, moved it, and divided it. It has been beaten by storms and broken into pieces, and it immediately regrows. I get two or three sets of blooms from it each summer. Mine grows to 7 feet tall with 2 foot flower spikes. I never fertilize it or baby it in any way, except to stake each flower stalk. If this is a good representation of the New Millenium group, then I would say you can't go wrong with them.

I had planted some New Millenium both the purple and a pink. The purple died after two years the pink is still going strong after many years. After all this time I do not recall the names of the purple or the pink. I am very pleased with the pink which thrives here it has never been divided.

Good to know, as I love them but have had some problems with them not surviving at times. I also live on a hill and will admit I can be a lazy gardener Staking? Egads! Ok, maybe next year.....

Gchrismer, staking is an absolute necessity in my mind. And just to reinforce my positive comments, my Pagan Purples are blooming right now, in October, for the third time this season. And they were taken down to nubs by a storm this summer, so they completely regrew from the ground up.

I have a delphinium that I think may be one of the Millenium hybrids but I'm not sure. It was given to me at least 5 years ago and has done well. This year it bloomed three times! Does anyone recognize it?

If it is indeed a millennium it could be 'Blue Lace'.

I agree with Jeanie on the Blue Lace id.
Some species are short lived but the New Millennium series is suppose to be a longer lived variety. Good source that I have found for info. http://www.delphinium.co.nz/
Good source for sale and info in US in my humble opinion. Your suggestions are welcome. For the price and GREAT people to do business with: Amanda and Mark are at the top of my list hands down.
http://www.gracefulgardens.com...

Thanks Jeanie and Mike. It's a lovely delphinium whatever it is. I'll do some research on Blue Lace. It's the only taller delphinium I've had in my garden; I did grow one of the shorter Chinese Delphs at one time. I wonder how many more years I can expect from it?

I've had Pagan Purples for 7 or 8 years...moved it three times, divided it, recombined it, and it just keeps getting bigger. It's still blooming right now, after a couple frosts and a hard freeze.
The shorter ones only lasted 2, maybe 3 years for me.

Has anyone tried Blackmore and Langdon delphiniums? We find they perform much better than the Pacific Giants. They grow into large clumps that can be divided and are drop dead gorgeous. B & L win gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show every year. It might be expensive to ship plants from the UK, but B & L sell packets of seeds (of either the tall or the dwarf varieties) and we've always found they are really easy to grow from seed provided you give them slug protection.

Have a look:

http://www.blackmore-langdon.c...

Cliftoncat, I have watched some videos on youtube in regards to their plants. Very interesting. It will only be a matter of time before they find their way here.

Is it OK to send seeds to the US without phytosanitary certificates? If yes, I can send you some seeds next summer from the plants in our garden if you like. They usually end up on the compost heap!

Yes, you can but for the specific requirements see:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps...

Thanks, Sue, that's really helpful and does indeed suggest that for small quantities no expensive certificates are needed.

In that case, cliftoncat, I would absolutely love to get some seeds from you. Please tree mail me with particulars. Thank you!

Does anyone have a US seed source for the Cobalt Dream delphinium? I see that Dowdswell Delphinium NA is up for sale (!) - I think I ordered Pagan Purple from them several years ago and was delighted with the order. Not an option this year.

Is there a close substitute for Cobalt Dream? I'm particularly searching for that color - had it years ago and don't remember the details:




Thanks for any input on Delph seeds!

Catherine

@catherine see my post above for the link to gracefulgardens.com. Amanda has the plants at a price that CAN'T be beaten. Tell her I sent you.