Delphinium (Belladonna group) 'EXCALIBUR™ LILAC ROSE WHITE BEE'

Larkspur is a favourite perennial where varieties with blue flowers are most popular. Though, in modern gardens and better garden centres you can find new varieties with pink shades or even purple-red shades as well as white. The name delphinium was used to describe the shape of the flower bud which looks like a dolphin (rather a fat one).

EXCALIBUR™ is a modern series of larkspur with many colour combination varieties. Plants from this series identify with shorter but densely branched stems, and double flowers. EXCALIBUR™ Lilac Rose with White Bee larkspur bears flowers of a very unusual shade of lilac rose to dusky pink with a small white bee in the centre. They are produced on 40-50 cm tall stems from late June until early September if stems with spent flowers are removed early. Deciduous, basal leaves are large, palmate, deeply lobed, mid green, up to 20 cm across, and quite resistant to downy mildew.

Grow larkspur in any well-drained, humus-rich, garden soil in full sun. It will benefit from mulching as it likes constant moisture. The plant contains toxin which may cause severe discomfort if ingested, or, to some, it may irritate skin. The plant is short-lived unless the clumps are divided every 3-4 years in spring, and only the good and healthy plants are put back. Use a high phosphorus fertilizer every year for profuse flowering. Fully hardy to min. -34°C (USDA zone 4), possibly more.

Last update 22-07-2013