Delphinium is a genus of around 300 species of flowering perennial, biennial and annual plants that are native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa.The name “delphinium” derives from the Latin for “dolphin”, referring to the shape of the nectary, though there is also a story that in ancient Rome men were pursuing a dolphin for commercial exploitation so Neptune turned it into the Delphinium!
The common name “larkspur” (referring to the bird’s claw shape of the flower), is shared between perennial Delphinium species and annual species of the genus Consolida. The famous 16th century herbalist, John Gerard gives ‘delphinium’ as an alternative name for Consolida, says that there is little written about any medicinal uses other than as an antidote to scorpion stings. He mentions the idea of laying delphiniums in the path of a scorpion tol render it totally incapable of movement until the plant is removed but says this is just one of many ‘trifling toyes’ that are not worth reading! The town of Larkspur in Colorado was given its name by Elizabeth Hunt, wife of the governor, in 1871 because of the abundance of delphiniums growing in the area
Delphinium nuttallianum
D. ajacis = possibly based on the marks at the base of the united petals which were compared to the letters AIAI
D. cardinale = scarlet
D. consolida = joined in one
D. elatum = tall
D.formosum = beautiful
D. grandiflorum = large flowered
D. nudicaule = naked stemmed
D. sulphureum = sulphur – yellow
D. tatsiense = of Tatsien, China
D. triste = sad, the dull blue of the flowers
D. zalil = native Afghanistan name.
D. ‘Blue Nile’
The delphinium is much admired, particularly in the cottage garden setting. Delphiniums are tall, majestic plants with showy open flowers on branching spikes. Each flower has 5 petal-like sepals with 2 or 4 true petals in the centre called a bee. Delphinium species include all three primary colours, blue, red, and yellow. Hybridisation of delphiniums has resulted in many new colours and attractive flower forms and growing heights. Most garden Delphiniums are of the hybirds raised from species such as elatum, formosum, grandiflorum and sulphureum. Flower colours range in shades of blue from palest sky, through to gentian and indigo; rich purple, lavender, pink to purest white. In England Blackmore and Langdon, nurserymen and leading breeders of Delphiniums, were producing hybrids from early in the 20th century, producing named varieties of large well-formed delphiniums. Others have also added their skills and developed the most dramatic and eye-catching plants to grace our gardens.
Sources and further information:
How to grow Delphiniums- Sarah Raven
The Poison Garden – Delphiniums
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The tobacco plant – Nicotiana tabacum
I guess ‘intoxicating’ is the right term as the tobacco plant is one of the most important plant discoveries in history, albeit one whose chief product we have come to understand and increasingly reject as a major cause of disease.
Fortunately though, the ‘baby hasn’t been thrown out with the bath water’ and we can still appreciate it as a garden plant, and its one which I grow each year and place in groups around Old School Garden as well as along the main entrance path at Gressenhall Museum where I volunteer.
Indigenous to the Americas, Australia, south west Africa and the South Pacific, there are various Nicotiana species, all commonly referred to as ‘tobacco plants’, though it is N. tabacum that is still grown worldwide for production of tobacco leaf for cigarettes etc. Nicotiana can be annuals, biennials, perennials or shrubs – some 70 species are grown as ornamentals.
Nicotiana sylvestris
N. sylvestris is a stately plant which looks well at the back of a lightly shaded or sunny border, or grown in bold groups. It’s flower heads seem to explode like a graceful firework. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM). There are many variations in size, colour and fragrance between the species and hybrids. Older heirloom species are often identified by their genus and species name.
Nicotiana alata – photo Carl E. Lewis
Its genus name, designated by Linnaeus in 1753, recognizes Frenchman Jean Nicot, ambassador to Portugal from 1559-1561 who brought powdered tobacco to France to cure the Queen’s son of migraine headaches. Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566) coined the name ‘Nicotiana’. However, Nicot’s credit as the first to bring the plant to Europe is wrong as it was known in the Low Countries after being brought there by Spanish merchants in the 1540s. Knowledge of the plant by Europeans dates from 1492 when Columbus’s sailors saw it being smoked in Cuba and Haiti.
Nicotiana glauca 
Nicotiana x sanderae ‘Dwarf White Bedder’ 
Nicotiana x sanderae ‘Lime Green’
Many of the species names refer to a characteristic of the plant. Nicotiana alata gets its species name from the Latin word meaning winged, referring to its winged petioles (the stalks attaching the leaf blades to the stem). N. sylvestris, from the Latin sylva, meaning of the forest or woodland, possibly refers to its native habitat. N. langsdorffii was named after G. I. Langsdorf, the Russian Consul in Rio de Janeiro who organized an expedition to explore the inner regions of Brazil in the 1820’s.
Other varieties include:
N. affinis = related to, probably N. alata (= ‘winged’), some use it as a synonym. The ‘Night Scented Tobacco Plant’
N. x sanderae = ‘Sander’s Tobacco’, a group to which most of the newer hybrids belong
N. suaveolens = sweet smelling
Nicotiana can be used as specimen or bedding plants, in borders, woodland gardens or containers. Heights range from less than 1 foot to over 10 feet. They are long-blooming, attractive plants with trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of green, white, red, and pastels. Some species have attractive foliage. They are fairly easy to grow from seed. Contact with the hairy foliage may irritate the skin.
Nicotiana x sanderae hybrids
Sources and further information:
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Irises by Van Gogh
Iris persica – a bulbous Iris as drawn by Sowerby in 1792
Irises – otherwise known as Flags, Sword Lilies or Fleur de Lis – is a genus of some 300 species from very varied habitats from around the northern hemisphere. They vary between those that are bulbs, those with rhizomatous (expanding, tuberous) roots, and some that are fleshy – rooted. They can be evergreen or deciduous and have very varied growth requirements. Irises are classified by the Royal Horticultural Society into these sub sections or ‘subgenera’:
Iris aphylla -with prominent ‘beard’
Iris orientalis showing rhizome roots
The Iris has connections with ancient Greece, where Iris was the messenger of the Gods, communicating between heaven and earth through a rainbow (so a reference to the wide range of Iris colours available). Irises have been valued plants for a long time and the flowers have had a long association with heraldry and royalty.
The iris flower has three outer and three inner tepals (a uniform type of petal on the outer part of the flower). The outer three bend back and may also hang down, so are referred to as ‘falls’ – they are usually the most colourful part of the flower and are especially large and colourful in the bearded irises, which have white or coloured hairs, like a beard, in the centre of each fall. Crested irises have a ridge (or crest) on each fall.
The three inner tepals are called ‘standards’, as they generally stand upright in the middle of the flower (like a flag), but may also lie horizontally as in I. tectorum; droop as in I. bucharicha; or be much reduced as in I. danfordiae.
Three modified styles called stigma flaps reach out over the falls from the middle of the flower and can be an important feature. The iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects, the shape of the flower and the position of the pollen-receiving and stigmatic surfaces on the outer petals forming a convenient landing-stage for flying insects. All parts of the Iris plant are poisonous and contact with the sap may cause skin irritation. However, Irises are low in allergens.
Iris orientalis
Iris ‘Samurai Warrior’- the closest breeders have come to a red Iris
Irises are extensively grown as ornamental plants in home and botanical gardens. They grow in any good free garden soil, the smaller and more delicate species needing only the aid of turf ingredients, either peat or loam, to keep it light and open in texture. The earliest to bloom are species like I. junonia and I.reichenbachii, which flower as early as February and March (Northern Hemisphere). These are followed by the dwarf forms of I. pumila which blossom in Spring, and these are followed in early Summer by most of the tall bearded varieties, such as the German Iris and its variety florentina, Sweet Iris, Hungarian Iris, Lemon-yellow Iris and their natural and horticultural hybrids such as those described under names like I. neglecta or I. squalens.
Iris reticulata 
Iris graminea 
Iris croatica ‘Botaniki’
The Iris is hardy, reliable, and easy to grow. Irises also attract butterflies and make lovely cut flowers. The Old Farmers’ Almanac suggests the following tips for growing Irises:
Iris wattii 
Iris ensata cv ‘Kumoinogan’ 
Iris reichenbachii 
Iris pseudacorus 
Iris regis-uzziae
Bearded Iris drawn by Sue Walker White
Further information:
National collection of water irises event
Iris weekend 6-7 July, Rosemoor, Devon
Places to see Bearded Irises in May- June:
Marks Hall Garden & Arboretum, Essex
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Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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