Mark, I think hot weather for you is quite a different ballgame than hot weather for those of us in the south US. I've tried delphiniums several times, and have gotten the occasional bloom (at about 1/2 the height it should be), but the heat does them in every time. Just breaks my heart too. At least larkspur do well here, and that somewhat satisfies the desire for the big perennial delphiniums.
Astrantia
Hey Gemini
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww its such a shame you cant grow stuff that i have here.......... I will takes lots of photos of delphiniums for you and post them on here, then you can imagine them in your garden!! Hows that?? lol
I would have thought if larkspur grows well there then delphiniums would!!!! That is strange..........
Have you tried Hollyhock????????????????
Mark
That works Mark :) I never tire of seeing your pics! Another of those beauties that I see in pics of English gardens is lupine. Same deal with those- I have to be satisfied with Baptisia.
With the larkspur, I've found I need to sow it either in fall or very early spring for a nice June/July display. They tend to dwindle as July gets steamy, but the show is long and well worth it.
Yes, hollyhocks do very well here. I'm not currently growing any, but now I have a sunny area ready that will be great for some.
Ok, I will do that just for you Gemini............
Yeah Lupins i have lots of too.................. and lots of seed!!!!
Baptisia????????? Not heard of that one before..............
Wow, it must get so hot where you are for things like those to dwindle................ what does it reach there?????
There are some REALLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY beautiful Hollyhocks at the moment............ you should maybe look into that.................. then i will be jealous!! Every one i have planted here gets rust..........
This is Baptisia australis, the kind I have.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/4338/
There are yellow and white species too, and various selections and hybrids as well that I'd like to try. Color range is quite limited compared to lupines.
While in the last few years it has seemed to me our summers have a bit milder than usual, we still expect several weeks of temps 90degree F. and above, with high humidity. July and August are the worst. Kentucky is one of the northernmost-southern states, if that makes sense, lol. The heat is worse south of us, and the cold is worse north of us, but plants have to be able to take both. A lot of us in the Ohio River valley region have similar issues.
Neal
Ohhhhhhhhhh thank you for the link........................... Oh god yes, lupins come in some very cool colours!! My fav one is pale yellow................... its a gorgeous colour!
Well this summer we got in the high 80's................. so there isnt that much difference apart from we dont really get the humidity................. maybe that is what the plants dont like..........
Yes makes sense about kentucky...LOL
Oh so you get like an overflow of both the south heat and the north cold, no wonderits humid!!!
Mark
Mark and gemini
I also sow Larkspur seeds in Oct. and by April they are nice.They last until they are zapped by the heat.They put out a few volunteers,nothing compared to what they would do in the way of volunteers if it wasn't so hot and humid.
Hollyhocks do reasonably well and Foxglove does very well.
I grow Lupins at our farm in the mountains of North Carolina.I am not there very often,so the only plants that do well are those that can take care of themselves.I planted about 20 lupines last year (started the seeds down here) and only 5 came back.
You are right.Humidity is the killer
There is no way that I can even approach the look of an English Garden.The only other place that comes near is the pacific North West.
I'm not the Nancy that signed your book.Nancy is a very popular name for women of a certain age.
I would love some Astrantia seed.
This message was edited Dec 5, 2006 5:22 PM
Enjoy Nancy................................ They are on their way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!