Anyone grow Larkspur or Delphinium in Bay Area

Hi,

I have a brick planter in my front yard and it's a little difficult to plant because of how it's situated relative to the sun. It's north facing so it gets sun pretty much from 8:00 am until 12:00 - 1:00 at which point the shadow of the house starts in. This would probably be OK for many plants but the added difficulty is that in the heat of summer there is a extra heating effect due to reflection off the wall. I'll tell you what I have tried so far which may give you a better idea -

I first thought that there was not enough sun for a sun loving annual so I went with impatiens. Bad choice, they did not bloom and even the foilage suffered. I have since read that 2 hrs of midday sun is the limit for these. I know they now have full sun impatiens and I'll keep those under consideration. My nieghbor has a similar planter with petunia and it's pretty impressive.

Non-stop tuberous begonia. Somehow I got the impression from Mike Stevens begonia book that non-stops could take significant direct sun. Well, they may be able to if you grow them from tubers and harden them off as soon as possible. I grew some of mine from tubers in flats and supplemented this with some 4" potted nurseery stock. For the first couple of months they did get quite a bit of leaf burn although they did flower their hearts out. They just did not reach full glory until late August and into Sept (pic below). I will definitely save the tubers. I may try it again, starting the tubers in trays in March (I think I started in May last season), and hardening them off as soon as possible.

So I was thinking for a change a pace to try larkspur or Delphinium (as annuals of course). Western garden says they are OK but much of the info I see says many consective days over 85 deg will kill them and I'm not sure if they get enough sun to really fill the planter with color. The english delphiniums sold by Dowdwells (https://www.delphinium.co.nz/ ) are impressive but are too tall (I'd like to limit to 4'). Anyone grown larkspur or delphinium in Northern CA? If so what variety?

Thanks

Here's the pic...

Oops, try again

I don't grow larkspur/delphinium so can't really speak from experience, but if they are sensitive to the number of days over 85 and you've got that situation where they get extra heat because of their location, my thought would be that they might not do well. I see them in nurseries around here (the good nurseries, not just Home Depot sorts of places) so I'm assuming that someone can grow them, so if you can't grow them it would likely be because of your particular conditions, not that northern CA in general is a bad place for them.

I had a similar situation at my old house except it was a garden bed not a planter, but it was the same thing with AM sun only but heat reflected off the wall of the house (although since it was only AM sun I never noticed that the plants there got too much heat), so maybe some of what worked for me might work for you. I don't really do annuals though, most my stuff was perennials and shrubs. Anyway, here's what I grew there: Alstroemeria, Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender', Nandina, Nemesia (perennial kinds), Roses, Epilobium (formerly Zauschneria, some places still sell it under that name), Phygelius, and Lantana (didn't bloom as well as my Lantana's that were in full sun though).

Million bells are a form of petunia that bloom all summer long and enjoy draping over walls. No deadheading but the flowers are small. I love them. The begonias look wonderful though. It must be an east facing window though - northern windows don't get any direct sun. Some daylilies are happy in half a day of sun. Also the shorter cannas which bloom for a very long time in the summer and they have beautiful foliage. Some of the new mini-hydrangeas would do well there and stay under 4 feet. It's my experience with hydrangeas and cannas that you can't make them be a height they don't want to be.

If you can find miniature roses that can tolerate half day shade that would be great. They bloom all summer and if sprayed with Messenger are totally disease free. Be careful though. Some of the miniature roses can get very tall and don't grow on miniature bushes.

Clematis Rooguchi could be planted in among the other plants and it loves to tumble down walls. It's not a climber and it's easy to grow. (If you buy from Joy Creek make sure to call ahead of time and see if they have inventory.)
http://www.joycreek.com/150-106-1.htm

Larkspur and delphinium don't last here very well and droop early in the summer. Seems as if they are more a spring plant here.

One other thing that would be beautiful in your planter are mixed echevarias, especially the ruffled kind. They are just breathtaking when they are close together and only need a little watering.

Thanks,

I'm trying to wean myself off annuals also but we like to put tulips in the planter for spring. It's also the one location where I like to have a continuous mass of color for the growing season. Pentunias are probably the way to go or the new full sun impatiens.

Doss, you're right, northeast facing most likely (gotta find that compass!).

Ecrane3, funny you mention Alstroemeria. Could you coment on this thread I started ?

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/661813/

Thanks

This message was edited Oct 22, 2006 10:09 PM

Alex--sorry, don't have any thoughts on your other thread. I've only seen them as plants sold at garden centers, or there are a few places that carry seeds but from what I've heard they're on the tricky side to germinate. Never saw bulbs/rhizomes anywhere either locally or mail order.

New Guinea impatiens prefer more sun also.

How about putting some greenery in back of the planter and then sticking in some annuals? That can be a lot of fun. One great foliage plant is farfugium. It's evergreen here. And it comes in several different variations, variegated, plain, gray/fuzzy/curly. I love it.

You can plant it with ferns. Fancy Fronds has this great database where you can put in your zone, cultural requirements and frond condition (evergreen, etc.) There's a lot to choose from.
http://www.fancyfronds.com/

And there are some beautiful carex that love part shade. That way it will look beautiful year around and you can still have your color.