| Sydney is the Larkspur we've been waiting for! These blooms are not only fully double and simply enormous, but they arise profusely and then last a long time in the vase! In our garden trials last spring and summer, this was the Larkspur visitors kept asking about, both for its rich combination of purple, rose, and white and for its majestic bloomspikes. Winner of top honors in Europe, it is certain to become The Larkspur for American gardeners who prize tall vertical color! This plant reaches 4 feet tall but just 9 to 12 inches wide. Instead of sending up a bunch of smaller side branches, it concentrates its energy on producing one incredibly bloom-iferous stalk! Yet as soon as you cut this beautiful stem, another begins growing to take its place. Cut-and-come-again abundance combined with Exhibition-quality blooms -- it doesn't get any better than that! Unlike many Larkspur mixes, Sydney's three colors all bloom at the same time on very uniform-sized plants. This is the Larkspur you must have for the cutting garden, yet it's gorgeous enough for a place of honor in any bed or border, too! You can space the plants quite close together and just revel in nonstop blooms over a long season. The joy of cool-weather climates from Maine to the Pacific Northwest, Larkspur is Nature's bridge from spring-blooming bulbs to Roses, bringing hummingbirds into the garden and vasefuls of color into the house. It can be direct-sown in early spring or even begun indoors and transplanted (with plenty of care -- it isn't wild about that!), but many gardeners believe that it grows best when direct-sown in fall. If you love Larkspur as much as I do, make successive plantings in fall AND earliest spring, cut the flowers promptly, and enjoy masses of vertical color from spring till the end of summer! Native to Britain (as well as other regions of southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and even Asia) and long considered a species of Delphinium before being reclassified, Larkspur has been beloved in English gardens for centuries. Once used as a tonic for poor eyesight, it was believed to be so powerful that just gazing at the flowers would help one's vision -- a fantastic excuse, as if you need one, for growing a large stand at once! Larkspur is not difficult to grow, asking only plenty of sun, some protection from wind, and cool temperatures. September is prime planting time in most regions, giving the soil a chance to cool a bit from summer's blaze, yet offering enough warmth and sun to start growth before winter. As you direct-sow the seed, bear in mind that you won't want to transplant the seedlings unless you have to, so sprinkle the seed liberally and plan on thinning the young sprouts mercilessly! Cover the seed lightly with soil; Larkspur needs darkness to germinate. If planted in spring, Sydney will be blooming in 8 to 13 weeks! We sell coated seed for easier planting. Packet is 40 seeds. |
