Peter Dowdall: Why I love delphiniums — and what lupins and hydrangeas offer your garden

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

Tue, 05 Jul, 2022 - 12:11

Peter Dowdall

Such is the joy of gardening in Ireland that, whilst last week, we may have been looking for plants that will tolerate excessive rain and wind and would grow in waterlogged soils and next week we may be looking for drought-tolerant plants. I wonder will they dare bring up the subject of a hosepipe ban anytime this summer?

It may seem like a lifetime ago now but up to two weeks ago, the ground was really quite dry and hydrangeas which I had planted the previous month were showing signs of stress along with sweet pea and some other annuals.

They seemed to visibly come alive overnight as soon as they got some rain but Ireland being Ireland, the rain didn’t know when to stop and before too long many tall herbaceous stems and hydrangea blooms around the country were snapping and breaking because of rain and wind damage.

It’s a pity, as June, July and August are the months which really belong to perennials in the garden. All year we wait for them to emerge and develop fresh, strong foliage and perhaps some among us are even brave enough to practice the Chelsea Chop and cut back the first flush of perennial growth to promote stronger and more robust stems and flowers for July and August.

Then, as has been the case this year, torrential and persistent rain has left many flattened. Delphiniums are the ones that I probably most look forward to, their splendid, tall flower spikes rising skywards proclaiming their beauty with loud pride.

I love all of them, the dark, navy-blue and the paler blue, the mauve and the white forms too.

Last year I planted some Delphinium Princess Caroline, a plant which I had first grown when I spent some time in Jersey, many moons ago. It was difficult over there but unfortunately even worse here, they came to nothing.

This year I have planted a few Delphinium Sherbet Lemon which I have never grown before as they are a new cultivar. Nor have I even seen them, I am going in blind faith in the grower from whom I bought them, as they are described as very floriferous with stems of pale cream/yellow rising to about 60m high. They are in bud and I think, I did them a favour by cutting them back at the end of May for they are stronger now and only thinking about opening up into bloom now.

Delphinium Finsteraarhorn is one of the really dark blue forms. Navy-blue petals are flushed with purple and a black eye makes them appear even darker. I have added three more of these to the garden this year too and I await their majestic flowers eagerly. Finsteraarhorn is a much taller variety, reaching about 1.8m in height and so staking is a must, even when the weather isn’t blowing a gale.

All delphiniums like a well-drained, though nutrient-rich soil and a sheltered position in, ideally, full sun. Which brings me back to the Irish weather once more. You can give the delphiniums all that they require but the unpredictability of the Irish climate means that gardening is always a guessing game. They may be fine there one year, giving a display worthy of a magazine cover and yet the following year, they can be left rain-spattered and lying on the ground.

Perhaps, this is what makes gardening such fun? Nature keeps us guessing, though I think I would prefer a bit more certainty from year to year.

Irish Examiner gardening columnist Peter Dowdall. Picture: John Allen

I was lucky with my lupins, I have a lovely planting of Lupin Persian Slipper and I got to enjoy them in full bloom during late May and early June. I had just cut back the dead flowers to try and encourage another, later flush of deep blue and white, later in the summer, the day before the rain and wind started. They seem to be quite happy with all the moisture though I would always recommend adding grit or similar when planting lupins for they do not like to be sitting in wet soil.

I have noticed, over the years that lupins aren’t lasting as long as what they used to, though that could well be the fact that the years go by quicker now than when I was a child. One tip that I give to everyone when planting lupins is to leave the top of the root ball/the base of the plant, just above the soil level. Don’t bury this crown under the soil and bark mulch for it can lead to water collecting and rotting the plant.

I also added a beautiful form of blackcurrant sage — so called as the foliage and stems give off a wonderful currant-type scent. Salvia microphylla Delice Aquamarine is thriving since being planted early this year. Beautiful pale blue blooms are being produced freely, I have some next to the pure white Hydrangea Annabelle and some growing through some white ground cover roses and it is really, really impressive.