Are 100% degree days too much for Delphiniums?

I live in California and we just had 3 record breaking days of 100% degree weather. My Delphinium had blue flowers when I purchased it. The new blooms were blue when they opened up also but appeared to be not quite as blue and now they look purple-ish.The newest spike is very full and the flowers have not yet openened but they appear to be pink! I read somewhere that too much sun can do that. But I swear that spike has always been pink from the time it was very small. The weather is cool again. It was 64 degrees today same yesterday. But the summers here are hot especially the month of September. I'm thinking full sun in Ca. is not such a good thing for Delphiniums. Another thing is why are all the blooms growing so close to the ground? It is defitnitley a Delphinium but the flowers are not spikes. Are there different kinds of Delphinium.? Good thing I only purchased one plant. I wanted to see how it would do and it is not looking good. I love blue flowers!!! I didn't want pink!

I don't grow delphiniums, but I do have some other plants that were blooming during that hot spell and some of them had the flower colors get bleached out a bit by the heat. I don't think that heat would turn things all the way from blue to pink though, my flowers went from a really bright deep blue to a more faded bleached looking blue. Some flowers will change color a little bit over time too--they'll start out one color but change somewhat as they fade. So going from blue to purplish isn't necessarily unheard of, but if the second spike of flowers opens and is completely pink then I think you might have had 2 plants in one pot or something like that.

There are different kinds of delphiniums--since I don't grow them I don't know if there are any that have blooms close to the ground as you describe...can you post a picture of that one? I'm sure someone will recognize if it's a delphinium or not.

The record heat we just had is definitely not favored by Delphiniums.
I grow them every year and the minute we get 90* + temps, they fry.

There are several types of Delphiniums, so without a photo of what you have, it's difficult to determine why you're experiencing color change.

Generally, most Delph's send up one main bloom spike. After it has finished, they will sometimes send up much smaller ones...depending on the variety. Again, it depoends on which species you have. I only grow the Pacific Giants and the Magic Fountain strains and have never had them change color like you described.

Yours MAY have reseeded themselves from last years blooms,in which case this could account for the color change. Your original ones were most likely "Hybrids", and hybrids, when they reseed, can be any variety of colors...they won't necessarily be the same as the "parent plant" that they came from.

In regard to sun exposure, I always plant mine where they get only morning sun. The intense full sun (and heat ) of our summers takes it's toll on them really fast. Try giving them a semi-shaded spot where they're not exposed to full blazing afternoon heat and sun.

The ones I mentioned above are technically perennials, but they rarely over-winter for me. I just buy new ones and plant them in the fall...so basically, I treat them as annuals.