Joanne McKinnon Garden Photography

Every season, gardeners find themselves with wrongly labeled plants. In my case, it’s usually positive. So was the case with this Belladonna  Delphinium. Before I received it from McFayden I didn’t even know it existed. this group of Delphiniums are shorter and bushier than the elatum types. When it first died back to the ground, I thought I lost it. But close examination showed tiny sprouts.  The plant also responds well to moving. When it gets leggy, I lift, divide and amend the soil with shrimp compost and bone meal. This year, for the first time, I’m using fish compost. Yes, it does stink. Found this fertilizer at Costco. The smell doesn’t last long, raccoons visit my feeders but never touched any of the plants amended with the fish compost. I do apply only in the morning.

They like full sun, moist soil and some support. You can read more details about this hardy perennial on the my garden site.