Delphinium
Delphinium elatum
Towering spires of true blue, the star of the cottage garden in early summer and a classic cut flower. It does best where summers are cool; stake the stems, shelter them from wind, and feed it well.
- Mature size
- 4 × 2 ft
- 1.2 × 0.6 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–7b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- Jun–Jul
Delphinium at its mature size
A mature Delphinium grows to about 4 ft tall and 2 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Illinois Extension.
Through the year
What Delphinium looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Below ground · Oct–Mar
Dies back to the ground over winter.
In leaf · Apr–May, Aug–Sep
Mound of deeply cut green leaves, no spires.
In flower · Jun–Jul
Tall dense spires of true-blue flowers.
Growing Delphinium
- Grows well in
- The Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Specimen
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- Europe to Mongolia
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Delphinium, that’s about 2 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Delphinium in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.