Over the years we’ve grown the Pacific Giant Hybrid delphiniums that were developed to overcome earlier weak-stemmed cultivars’ need for every plant to be staked. We put them in our display gardens where they bloomed magnificently for at least four seasons. They were the stalwarts of the summer sunny border.

Gradually though they became less reliable, only making it through three years, then two, then hopefully through at least a single August. Our gardening friends reported the same problem. We noticed that the plants often developed a black, tar-like substance on the leaves, probably a bacterial disease. Sometimes they developed fungal crown rot and
weak stems toppled. We wondered if there might be a genetic cause for the problems. Whether this was due to a build-up of pathogens in the area, genetic disability, or some physical weakening after generations of cloning, frustration has caused us to switch to a
seed-grown strain of the elatum hybrid delphiniums that are supposed to be much less prone to disease, grow nice and tall, and hopefully will grace all our gardens for more than a season. Just the names of these new delphiniums are worth having: “Blue Lace’, ‘Blushing
Brides’, ‘Green Twist’, ‘Innocence’, ‘Pagan Purples’, and ‘Royal Aspirations’.