Delphinium . (Homebase special) & Actinidia for Amy

Fabulous Brian, I put things in pots and they die! :0((
You certainly have a way with pots!
Is it 'cos you potty? ;0))

looks fabulous, especially against that lovely green acer.

They must be ladies Bjs thats why they like you hehe, wonderful display

Val, i think I am potty for growing as many in pots, think's I should put them all in my Tardis send them up to Scotland and let the rain water them,it would save me hours.
Sixpence i think they are Bi Sexual ! unlike my Primulas which are strictly Male and Female.

I love the delphiniums, I have several pacific giants and am considering some of the smaller varieties. which of your primulas are just male or female? all mine [not that I have that many] have both male and female parts.

Flowers that have both male and female are called 'perfect flowers' those that dont are 'imperfect'.
They can be all male or all female plants and are dioecious such as holly.
then you can have male flowers and female flowers on the same plant and are monoecious such as begonia and cucumbers.

LOl Brian hehe haha.

These are gorgeous Brian. Why dont Tesco sell plants like this??? I will have to change my supermarket cos I also missed all those Clematis at Morrisons for £1.79!
I love the colour of the first delph..never thought of growing them in pots. Ive got some copper tape for the base, what combo soil do you use?

I agree with Tet Brian they are gorgeous and I thought they needed to be planted in the ground. I might have more success at growing them in pots than I do in the garden. As with Tet again what soil please?

You can certainly pick up some super bargains in the shops! I bought a Hypericum in Poundland earlier this year and it's romping away too!

Beautiful Delphinium - just lovely.

is it focus DIY that is closing down? maybe some bargains there?

Ann & Tet there is nothing special ,the usual multi purpose with about 1 part in 5 John Inn es mixed in and a sprinkling of slow release fertilizer added.to keep it topped up through the season.

they look lovely, ive planted a few out myself got some plants from b&q 4 for £5 they are not very big but im hoping for them to take nicely like yours have. fingers crossed.

I haven't been successful at all with delphiniums but have always planted them out in the borders. Seeing yours looking so good, bjs, I shall have to try again, but in pots this time. I shall look out for the copper impregnated matting too.

Seaburngirl
What i said is not strictly true ,with Primulas and Auriculas they are divided into male & female for purpose of showing and breeding,they are not separate flowers as you describe, they are known as pin and thrum,pin being when the stigma stands high and the stamens are low down in the flower,thrum being opposite stigma low down in the flower and the centre top of the flower filled by the stamens. With Auriculas this is the way they are shown,a pin showing in the middle would be frowned upon ,probably disqualified.
However when breeding the pin is the preferred seed bearing plant to use,i think partly because the stigma stands high and is the natural mother it is also less likely to be self pollinated.as with most things self pollination is not the preferred way of producing off spring as the species eventually weakens.As we know.
There are many other plants as you say do the same thing being both male and female but the Primula family take it to the extreme
This is Just the tip of the subject and can become quite involved,i have bred plants useing two thrum plants and also useing two pin plants but you sometimes get less seed and more erratic germination.
I will leave it at that unless there is something in particular you want to know as i will bore every one to death.
Brian

Xela
The copper impregnated matting I buy from Harrods horticulture catalog(not the store in London)its on the net

aha, I did wonder if thats what it was. I understand the pin & thrum and did a blog on here a few yrs ago as a simple introduction to the breeding peculiarities of the genus. thanks bjs

stunning plants, stunning colours & stunning photographs. Superb.

Bjs, that's very handy to know, many thanks.