Re: yellow and blue

Chantal  --
I found your comments very interesting.  Slugs could indeed cause damage that 
gets blamed on a cold and/or wet winter.  

I don't think that is what happens in my garden, however.  Slugs have never 
been a big problem in my yard -- I get a few holes in the hosta each year and 
that's about it.  Also, I am always so anxious for spring to come that I take 
daily walks through my garden to watch for the slightest signs of new life.  
As they are favorites of mine, I monitor the emergence of my delphiniums with 
special diligence.  I take a close daily look and have not noticed any signs 
of slugs.  Each year one or two of my D. elatum do not break the ground at 
all.  I do suspect drainage is the problem because years ago when I first 
grew Delphinium elatum I put them in a low spot in the garden and they didn't 
survive at all. (The problem is not the amount of precipitation, but rather 
how good the drainage is, and that depends on soil type.)  Now that I plant 
them on higher ground and provide lots of compost for good drainage most of 
them return each year.

I think you male a good point that slugs could be the problem in some cases. 
Your post reminds us that garden problems are not that simple and things are 
often not what they appear to be. We should all be careful not to make a 
diagnosis to quickly without considering all of the possible factors.  --Janis

>>
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:03:41 +0200
 From: "GUIRAUD Chantal" <chantal.guiraud@wanadoo.fr>
  
 Hi, Janis and everybody,
 
 you say that you lost your delphiniums, but did you think about the slugs ?
 I noticed that in late winter which is very wet too here, when the
 delphiniums are just popping up the young fresh stems are eaten eagerly by
 tiny black slugs. The tiniest they are , the hungriest.
 So you have to be very careful with delphiniums because when you realize
 that it's too late. First of all, you must put  stakes at fall or leave them
 if you supported your plants to indicate their position, and in february
 (here, we don't have snow) open a little bit the soil with your fingers to
 see what's going on, and sprinkle slug repellent  on the young fresh stems
 just beginning their life under the soil surface. Usually, one think that
 they rot in winter because they don't see their delphiniums emerging 
 anymore, but , in fact, the guiltys are the slugs. >>

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