Re: larkspur





Valerie Lowery@ZEON
04/19/99 09:18 AM

To fellow larkspur enthusiasts:

I've had almost 100% germination success this year with my larkspur seeds.
There's no secret to them really, but I'll tell you what I did.

I, too, have heard that they are hard to transplant.  To help combat this
problem, I sow in peat pots (the kind you used to use in grade school to
grow marigolds for Mother's Day).  When the plants are only a few inches
tall, plant the whole thing in the garden.  The roots are not disturbed
this way.  When I started the seeds indoors, I provided no heat and I did
not soak the seeds.  I just barely covered the seeds and placed the flat in
the coolest part of the basement.  Just about all of the seeds came up in
two weeks.  I then placed them under shop lights for 12 hours at a time.
No extra fertilizer.  The seedlings were kept barely moist.

I just planted out the seedlings this weekend in full sun.  I didn't mulch
around them yet because the slugs love these babies.  When I watered them
in, I did use a diluted solution of Miracle Gro and incorporated some
bagged compost into the soil.  Now all I have to do is pray for cool
weather to continue.  In full sun around here, they won't last very long.

I must say that I scattered a couple of packets of the seeds in my lily bed
just to see what they would do.  I have a lot of seedlings, but they look
pitiful compared to those I started indoors.  I can control the light and
water indoors; those in the lily bed are at the mercy of nature and are
showing the stress.  I'm thinking that the key to these larkspur are cool
temps and water.

Mine hardly ever reseed.  When it does, it's a total surprise.  However,
there is a neighbor that has the most magnificent display of dark blue
larkspur in with his blood red Blaze roses.  He says that they just reseed
on their own.  I'm jealous!

Val in KY
zone 6a


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