Wonderful Delphiniums ....... I just love delphiniums, even though they are hard work, magnets for slugs and this wet windy weather makes it a fight to keep them upright I cannot resist the grandiose blue, purple, pink and white spires. I love the muted shades of the ones in the photograph but also the brilliant sharp blues, the eyes that look like bees- somehow they are just worth the trouble.

Delphiniums grow easily from seed, and flower the same year. They need extensive slug protection but once established grow into very sizable clumps putting up massive flowers spikes. Don't think what you bring home from the garden centre is it,  with one or two flower spikes, once established Delphiniums produce up to a dozen flower spikes from the one plant,  which look fantastic in the border.

It is essential to stake delphiniums in a way which supports them so the whole plant sways in the wind. If you stake just the bloom, it will often snap, the whole plant has to flex.

When the main stem has flowered cut it back and you will get secondary shoots. Delphiniums are herbaceous which means they die back completely in the winter  and they do require a fair amount of attention. As always, gardens are as individual as fashion; what one person loves another hates. I am sure many gardeners will read this and shudder at the thought of Delphiniums but  I cannot imagine a garden without them.