January 28, 2011 A Blue Delphinium Will Make me High.
Blue is my favorite color in the garden and anywhere else. Most of my dress shirts, T shirts and polo style shirts are all in varying shades of light blue. It appears prominently in the paintings on our walls and as accents in our living and dining rooms. We also use it as a background for our dishes when we set the table. Today, it is hard to find light blue tablecloths or placemats to replace the older ones; my wife and I never stop searching for them.
Blue is the most powerful drug that I take. Although few scientists will agree that medication consumed visually will have any health benefits, I stick to my story. That color, especially in a flower, is a narcotic. It sooths, it hypnotizes, it is euphoric, and it makes me high.
This morning, fellow garden writer, Tom Fisher, of Timber Press, posted an article about delphiniums and illustrated the post with the photo above. I am not certain if the picture belongs to Timber Press or to Dowdeswell’s, the New Zealand grower of extraordinary delphiniums featured and linked to in the article. For that reason, I am unable to accredit it properly. Instead, please enjoy the image. Mr. Fisher and I agree that no flower delivers a blue fix as effectively as delphiniums do, even if they require a lot of work. Read the entire Timber Press blog here.
Reader Comments (11)
Dowedeswell certainly has some drop dead gorgeous delphs. Teal has always been a favorite color of mine, I've been stocking up on home decor while it's in style. Looks like we're moving toward steely blue now, though, based on what was displayed in Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn when I visited last week. So have you checked out the true blue siberian iris at jpwflowers.com? You'd love them!
VW,
I insert use blue Siberian irises into my perennial flower beds in the same way that an artist uses blue brushstrokes on a canvas. They are very effective plants when used in color combinations.
Blue seems to be the holy grail of plant colors with the blue poppy, corydalis, and delphinium and the quest for blue tulips, hellebores, and roses. I myself am partial to the china blue of Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica.
There is such a thing as colour therapy - the colours you choose apparently help identify what is wrong etc and indicate your mood. Personally I love blue too but I recently came across a dusky purpley/pink delphinium in a magazine which I am quietly coverting
I agree about Delphiniums -- an all-time favorite. I love the blue flowers, but I also enjoy so many other colors in the garden. Maybe that means I'm frenetic (kidding), but I think there is something to color therapy. I'll have to do some research...
You've posted one of my favorites. Blue Delphiniums always hold place in my gardens. They are one of the first to emerge after the snow.
I'm 'into' blues, too. Love your post. Will 'share' it on my FB page...
Jan,
Thank you for the publicity. It's most appreciated.
Allan
I loved your post on the Delphinium elatum "Sunny Skies", shown in the photo. We are Canadian growers of perennials and the Delphinium elatums (Dowdeswell's New Millennium Varieties) are one of our specialties that we grow from seed. All the shades of blue in delphiniums are exquisite. At Plant Paradise Country Gardens we celebrate Delphinium Day.
Delphs have that iridescent quality that makes the blues really shine. I saw some amazing multistemmed delphiniums of about this height (or shorter) in a test garden in Buffalo last summer... a PanAm Select variety called 'Diamonds Blue', possibly from Ball's. I have pictures, but they don't do them justice, as blue is notoriously hard to photograph accurately. Let's just say, they would have given you quite the fix.
Helen,
I am "researching" another Delphinium blog with the help of Lorraine at Plant Paradise, situated north of Toronto. I hope to have it posted within a week.
Allan