Colours and shapes
Pale blue, bright blue, dark blue and lilac. The Delphinium always offers a shade of blue to suit you. You also have the choice of white, yellow, purple, red and pink varieties. The floral spikes tower over everything enthusiastically. They look like poles with bells that start tinkling as you pass.
The flower stem can reach a length of between 10 and 200 cm. The flowers have 3 to 7 petals. With a bit of imagination, you can see that the flower buds resemble dolphins. Hence the name Delphinium: the Latin word for dolphin. The flower also has parts that point backwards which resemble a rider’s spurs. Hence the common name larkspur.
Symbolism
To ensure you’re protected from bad luck, buy a big bunch of Delphiniums. The often blue flower symbolises truth and protection. In the past people also thought that you could scare away scorpions with a Delphinium…
Giving someone this cheerful plume of flowers can show that you’re ready to take the next step together. The flower represents devotion in love. Other words linked to the Delphinium’s symbolism are: health, pleasure, lightness, frivolity, generosity. In other words, it’s a positive and welcome flower! You might even start to wonder why no one has given you one in the past!
Origin
The Delphinium derives from French, American and English growers. So she’s an international lady! We have enjoyed these fabulous flowers right from the start of our gardening culture. Because the flowers have no function apart from ‘being beautiful’ (not medicinal or edible) they were of no interest to agriculturalists. We find the first picture of a Dephinium in a book from the start of the 17th century, although it’s accidentally classified under the wolf’s bane genus.
