Thanks, gottagarden. I plan on cleaning up my grasses and perennials, too. I have one long border that is full of mostly perennials that is a raised bed that I can access most of it from pathways, without stepping in the bed itself. And the front perennial bed is bordered by the street and the driveway, walkway and lawn, so I can access quite a bit of that too without stepping into the bed. I thought I would have my pruning done by now, but the person who was scheduled to help me with it this year, has had a sudden health issue and he is still unsure if he can do it. So I may have to do the pruning myself, adding to my time crunch. I don't have a lot of lawn and can easily get around without stepping on it if I need to. Isn't that great that you have good soil. I think you are the first person on GW that I've heard say they actually are happy with their soil...lol. I'm not unhappy with mine. It is clay but on the loamy side too. I don't have drainage problems and it is not difficult to dig. Our yard, is rarely wet. I have one walkway across the back of the house that puddles from the downspouts, probably because it is compacted there, but it is a mulched walkway and it is quickly absorbed. Other than that I can't remember seeing a puddle in the yard. It has to be all the mature trees around the property that just suck the moisture out of the soil. My vegetable beds are raised too, and they are usually warmer and drier, sooner than the rest of the garden. It's such an unusual year, that I would like to try to get a jump on things. This entire week is supposed to be warm again and 60 on Friday.

There is no need to cut delphinium as long as it is green.

Thanx - I'd just begun to hate the way mine looks - the last few weeks of drying cold wind has really done the dieback job. I just went out and cut 'er back. it was pretty clear where dieback was happeningon too-early growth, so I cut every stem back pretty hard. It was a volunteer anyway, and really become a monster. With most plants I wouldn't cut back more than a third, but not this hardy growback gem. btw, I only let one grow, and cut off all seed heads regularly as the Butterfly Bush is invasive in the Pacifc NW - I don't even trust variagated ones...as I've propagated plenty of stuff from hybrids. Dry stems, remove and compost seed, and consider removal of the plant before a new gardener takes over...unless they are also willing to be a voracious dead-header)

From the amount of mildew on your plant, I see no point in keeping the foliage. I would cut it back and remove it to your garbage, spray the ground and look forward to next year. Al