Perennial delphinium New Zealand: planting and care, photos, reviews

Delphinium New Zealand is a very beautiful perennial plant that can become the pride of any suburban area. There are a lot of delphinium varieties, but in order to successfully grow a flower, you need to know the rules for caring for it.

Description of the New Zealand delphinium

The New Zealand delphinium is a beautiful perennial plant that reaches about 2 m in height and can grow in one place up to 8 years. Delphinium consists of a tall dense stem, which is covered with numerous shoots, bright green dissected foliage and large inflorescences collected in brushes up to 70 cm tall.

The easiest way to recognize a perennial is precisely by its colors, usually they consist of 5 petals each, painted in white, red, cornflower blue, purple and violet. The shade of flowers depends on the variety of the New Zealand delphinium, but the diameter of an individual bud is almost all about 10 cm. The second name of the delphinium is spur, because there are spurs on its upper petals. The plant blooms at the end of June and until the beginning of August, and if the brushes that have finished flowering are cut off in time, then by September the perennial will bloom again.

Under natural conditions, the plant grows in Europe and America. In a cultural way, the New Zealand delphinium is bred all over the world; it grows well in all countries with a warm climate.

Varieties of New Zealand delphiniums

Breeders have bred dozens of varieties of New Zealand high delphinium. Between themselves, they differ mainly in shades of color and height, and the rules of care are the same for almost any variety.

Delphinium New Zealand Cobalt Dreams

Variety Cobalt Dreams is one of the artificially bred perennial subspecies. The flowers of the plant have a dark blue color with a white center, look very attractive in landscape design. You can grow a perennial in almost any climatic conditions; with proper care, Cobalt Dreams tolerates cold well and maintains health and decorativeness.

Delphinium New Zealand Pagan Parples

Variety Pagan Parples can reach from 170 to 190 cm in height and has large double-type flowers. The color of Pagan Parples is deep purple, the plant looks impressive both in single and in group plantings. The rules for caring for PaganParples are standard – the plant tolerates cold and poor soil well, but requires regular watering.

Delphinium New Zealand Green Twist

The perennial plant grows to an average of 140-160 cm and bears white double flowers in early summer. A characteristic feature of the Green Twist variety is the presence of yellow soft strokes on the petals and a green “eye” in the center of the inflorescence. The flowering of the variety continues until September. White New Zealand delphinium Green Twist is resistant to any growing conditions, but requires regular watering.

Delphinium New Zealand New Millennium Mini Stars

Delphinium variety New Millennium Mini Stars is usually sold as a flower mixture, which includes 4 colors – purple, dark pink, lilac and blue. New Millennium Mini Stars is a New Zealand dwarf delphinium, since the height of powerful peduncles usually does not exceed 70 cm, which is very little for a delphinium. The flowers of the variety are large, the diameter of each can be up to 9 cm.

Delphinium New Zealand Black Aid Angels

A very unusual variety of delphinium is Black Aid Angels, or “black-eyed angels”, if translated literally. The name well conveys the appearance of the perennial – the large flowers of the plant are white with an anthracite-black core.

The average height of Black Eyed Angels is about 120 cm, the stems of the perennial are dense, the flowers are dense and can open up to 8 cm in diameter.

Delphinium New Zealand Sweethearts

Sweethearts, awarded the Royal English Horticultural Society Award, reaches a height of 180-200 cm and is characterized by abundant and dense flowering. Sweethearts delphinium flowers are large, pink, and in the middle are white or striped eyes.

Variety Sweethearts decoratively decorates any site and looks favorably in single flower beds and large compositions. Growing conditions for a flower should be the same as for most delphiniums – the plant loves moisture, tolerates winter cold well, but needs shelter.

Delphinium New Zealand Giant

Delphinium Giant is a whole series of varieties of tall and powerful plants with huge double inflorescences. In height, Giant delphiniums reach 2 m, bloom profusely and for a long time. The following plant varieties can be distinguished:

• Lime – brings white flowers with a green-yellow stripe in the middle of each petal, quickly emerges after sowing, grows above 2 m;

  

• Giant Azure – a tall perennial up to 2 m or more in height, blooms in early or mid-summer with large double flowers of azure-blue color, the inflorescences of the variety are very dense;

  

• Giant Nochka – a tall, very strong and hardy variety up to 2 m tall, distinguished by dark purple dense inflorescences covering the entire stem, with a white eye in the middle of each flower.

  

All delphiniums of the Giant series are united by unpretentiousness in care and calm growth in almost any conditions. In moderately frosty winters, perennials can not even be covered on the site, the cold will not harm his health.

Delphinium New Zealand Blue Lace

The Blue Lace variety has very beautiful and large double flowers of a pale lilac hue with expressive blueness closer to the edges of the petals and a yellow core. The perennial grows up to 1,5 m and above, blooms very profusely and colorfully, a pleasant aroma emanates from the flowers. The variety has high frost resistance and is generally unpretentious to growing conditions, therefore it easily takes root in any area.

Delphinium New Zealand Double Innosens

Variety Double Innosens belongs to the New Millennium series of varieties and is distinguished by white, double, large flowers up to 4 cm in diameter each. The flowers of the plant are collected in inflorescences and usually appear in July, while the flowering period lasts a long time, since new flower stalks appear on the perennial stems instead of fading ones.

Variety Dumble Innosens has a high winter hardiness and can tolerate winter cold even without additional shelter.

How to grow a New Zealand delphinium from seeds

The tall New Zealand delphinium is usually grown from seed. If such a perennial has never grown on the site before, you need to buy seed. And if there is already a perennial, seeds can be collected from existing plants after flowering.

• Before planting in the ground, it is desirable to soak purchased or collected seeds, this will increase their germination from 67% to 80%. For soaking, the seeds should be placed in damp gauze and put in the refrigerator for a week, regularly checking the gauze and re-moistening it if necessary.
• When the seeds swell, they can be sown in seedling boxes – holes are made in the soil about 3 mm deep, the seed is placed in them and sprinkled with earth, lightly tamping.
• After planting, seed boxes should be properly watered, and even better, carefully sprayed with settled water to avoid washing out the seeds. Then a plastic film is pulled over the container and the seedlings are placed in a lighted and warm place at a temperature of about 15 degrees. 3 days after sowing, it is advisable to start cleaning the box with seeds in a cool place for the night.

With proper sowing of seeds of the New Zealand delphinium, seedlings appear after 2 weeks. After that, you will need to remove the film from the seedling boxes, water the seedlings and further moisten the soil as it dries.

When the sprouts have 3 full-fledged leaves, the seedlings will need to dive – transplant each of them into a separate pot filled with loose nutrient soil. When the sprouts get a little stronger, they can be prepared for planting in the ground. Before this, it is recommended to briefly take the seedlings out into the fresh air for several days in a row, each time increasing the time spent by the perennial sprouts in the open air.

Planting and caring for the New Zealand delphinium in the open field

Growing a New Zealand delphinium is a fairly simple task for a gardener. It is necessary to remember only the most basic rules for transplanting and caring for a plant in the open field.

Site preparation

Delphinium loves well-lit places, so it is recommended to choose a site for it sunny or with light shade. The plant is undemanding to the soil, but it grows best on neutral or slightly acidic loams and sandy loamy soils. The perennial does not tolerate constant stagnation of moisture; it is necessary to organize good drainage on the site for it.

The depth of the planting hole for a perennial is usually about 50 cm deep, the diameter of the hole should be 40 cm. Half a bucket of compost and a glass of wood ash, as well as complex mineral fertilizers, are poured into each hole. It is necessary to prepare a hole for planting a few days before planting, so that the fertilizer has time to properly absorb into the soil.

New Zealand delphinium planting rules

It is necessary to plant the delphinium in the ground in late spring, after the last frosts have passed. Despite the fact that the perennial is characterized by increased cold resistance, frost can cause severe damage to young seedlings.

• New Zealand delphinium seedlings are carefully removed from the old containers, it is recommended to soak the soil before that.
• Together with the remains of an earthen coma, the plant is lowered into the prepared hole.
• If necessary, carefully straighten the roots, and then fill the hole with earth to the top.

Immediately after planting, the delphinium must be watered. It is also recommended to cover young plants for the first time with a film or a glass jar to increase the level of humidity, this will contribute to faster rooting. When the delphinium begins to actively grow, the shelter can be removed.

Watering and top dressing

Delphinium New Zealand is a moisture-loving plant that requires regular watering. It is recommended to moisten the soil under the perennial as the soil dries out, the earth should always remain slightly moist. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent stagnation of water in the roots of the plant, since the perennial may die from waterlogging.

In the summer, watering should be more frequent, under bright sunlight, the soil dries out faster.

As for top dressing, it is recommended to apply it for the first time after the seedling reaches 15-20 cm. It is best to dilute organic manure in water and simply pour the delphinium with this solution, and then loosen the soil and weed out the weeds.

Trimming

Upon reaching a certain height, the delphinium is recommended to be cut and thinned. This not only allows you to make the bushes of the plant more decorative, but also improves flowering characteristics. Since the perennial does not have to spend energy on feeding extra shoots, it begins to bloom more abundantly, and the inflorescences themselves become brighter and larger.

Pruning is carried out after the delphinium grows more than 25 cm in height. On one bush of a perennial plant, no more than 5 shoots should be left, this will contribute to a good distribution of nutrients, and at the same time improve air circulation inside the bush.

In addition to extra shoots, you also need to cut off weak and thin stems located close to the surface of the earth. All sections after the procedure are recommended to be treated with activated charcoal, this will prevent decay.

Preparation for winter

The New Zealand delphinium has good cold tolerance. However, with the onset of winter, the aerial part of the plant inevitably dies. Therefore, it makes no sense to save the stems – after flowering is completed and the leaves dry, the shoots will need to be cut to about 30 cm above the ground. So that the places of the cuts do not begin to rot, in the fall they need to be covered with clay immediately after pruning.

Delphinium can winter without special shelter, but in regions with little snow, it is still recommended to protect the perennial from the cold. To do this, the delphinium must be covered with spruce branches or straw, the shelter will slightly warm the soil and prevent the roots from freezing in the absence of high snow cover.

Reproduction

Growing New Zealand Delphinium Giant from seeds is one of the easiest ways to increase the population of a flower in a summer cottage. Seeds should be collected in the fall after flowering, after which the seeds are soaked at home and planted in closed containers. It takes about 2 weeks for the seeds to germinate, and then it remains only to care for the sprouts until next spring, when they can be transplanted into open ground.

Another simple and effective method of propagation is the division of the bush for adult perennials. Carry out the procedure as follows:

• for division, a New Zealand delphinium aged 3-4 years is chosen, in younger plants the root system is not sufficiently developed, and old delphiniums adapt worse during transplantation;
• division can be carried out both in spring and autumn – in the first case, the delphinium is dug out of the ground as soon as new leaves begin to form on its shoots, and in the second, they wait for the end of flowering and the beginning of seed ripening;
• an adult plant is carefully dug out of the ground and the rhizome is carefully cut into several parts, each of the divisions must have a strong healthy shoot, at least one dormant bud and well-developed intact roots;
• the delenki are seated in prepared standard holes, watered abundantly and further looked after them according to the classical scheme.

As a rule, the divided delphinium begins to bloom profusely the very next year.

Among the classic methods of propagation of the delphinium, cuttings should also be mentioned.

• In the spring, it is necessary to cut several young apical shoots about 10 cm long from an adult delphinium.
• Each of the cuttings should have a “heel” – part of the root tissue.
• The cuttings are placed for a day in a solution that promotes the rapid growth of roots, and then they are rooted in a seedling box, using peat and weight mixed with each other in equal amounts as soil.
• It is necessary to deepen the “heel” of the cuttings by 1,5-2 cm, after planting in the container, the shoots are watered and covered with a glass cap or plastic wrap.
• It is necessary to keep the cuttings in the shade at a temperature of 20-25 ° C; it takes an average of about 5 weeks for high-quality rooting.

Throughout the year, the cuttings are grown in closed containers so that they are properly strengthened, and the next spring they are planted in the open air according to the standard scheme.

Diseases and pests

The beautiful and unpretentious New Zealand delphinium remains vulnerable to some ailments and garden parasites. Of the diseases, it is especially dangerous for him:

• powdery mildew, capable of destroying above-ground shoots in just a few days;

  

• black spot, depriving the plant of decorativeness and leading to its death.

  

To get rid of fungi, the New Zealand delphinium is recommended to be sprayed and shed with proven products, such as Topaz or Fundazol. It is important to do this at the first symptoms of ailments, then the plant can be saved in time.

Of the garden pests for the delphinium, the delphinium fly and slugs are dangerous – the parasites feed on the green parts of the plant and can completely destroy the perennial. To eliminate parasites, it is necessary to use Actellik and Karbofos insecticidal agents. At the same time, it is best to spray plantings prophylactically in order to avoid the very appearance of insects and slugs.

Conclusion

Delphinium New Zealand is a very beautiful plant that does not place high demands on growing conditions. If you follow the basic rules for planting and caring for a plant, then the perennial will very soon please you with generous flowering.

Reviews about the New Zealand delphinium