PlantFiles: Dwarf Chinese Delphinium
Delphinium grandiflorum 'Blue Butterfly'

I'm used to thinking of delphiniums as needing coddling in my climate - moist and rich soil, shade from the hot afternoon sun, etc. - and still often dying. This one is different. In my climate, it likes heat, it likes full sun, and so far, it's been more drought tolerant than some plants that are supposed to be! If you live in a temperate climate with rainfall averaging about the same all year round like I do, consider treating this delphinium the same way. This is the first delphinium I've been able to grow in my climate with absolutely no special effort on my part at all. I love delphiniums and I'm so pleased I finally found a low-care one.

I grew this plant in St. John's, Newfoundland - poor soil, mostly acid, windy and salty. The seed packet called it 'Blue Pygmy' (sorry, I can't remember the seedsman's name). It acted like a biennial, producing a neat rosette of leaves the first year, and flowered madly the following August, in the brightest blue imaginable. In mid-September all three plants died, producing copious amounts of seed. I will grow it again, but be careful where I place it, as the colour was rather a killer to other blues - white neighbours would look better.

I live in East Texas and am also having some problems keeping them alive. They flourished at first but now they are yellowing and not flowering at all. They get full sun and plenty of water but not too much. I haven't checked the ph of the soil though. That may be the problem.

I planted 2 a couple months ago here in Albuquerque. Fertile soil, plenty of water, full sun. I sheared them back to 3 inches last week because both were dying. One is bouncing back, one is near death. I won't give up though, they are beautiful at the front of the border.

My plant is happy in dryish shade, in clay loam covered with river rock.

From the belladonna group. Blue Butterfly is stocky, although the flowers make it seem light and airy. Flowers are a bright medium blue. Can be air-dried for light touches in flower arrangements.

Grow in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, but with shelter from strong winds. If plants do not grow well, or look leggy and stressed, try "sweetening" the soil with a little lime.

Caution: all parts may cause severe discomfort if ingested, and contact with foliage may irritate skin.

This short-lived perennial can be grown as an annual if started early indoors. It blooms in an incredible shade of deep, true blue. The small plants will fit into any garden.