Why not get plants suited to the site? The plants will be happier and you will too.

This past spring I got Delphiniums since my Larkspur didn't germinate. They got more or less dappled sun, such as it was this year with rain/cold, for about 4-5 hours with high noon in the middle. They still bent over and reached for the sun. The ones that survived are still standing there bent to the South. The Birch tree they were shaded by fell which I'm hoping will give them enough sun if they survive winter.

I'll try growing Larkspur again just in case even though they need just as much sun as Delphiniums. I can prop up Annuals and not be bothered as much as if perennials can't grow straight or perish from incorrect location.

That's from someone who's still finding out the hard way you can't always force plants if they don't get what they need. If they do pretty well I can live with that.

I wasn't able to see photo with link you provided. If others can see it they may be able to tell the variety because some Delphiniums can take some shade according to various web sites.

Since you already have them planted you can wait and see how they do. If you're not happy with performance and have a sunnier place to put them you'll move them. If their performance is satisfactory to you then you'll enjoy them as they are.

They were a "no ID" bargain and you gave them a home. You'll see how they do and maybe find a bargain on things specifically suited to the shade you've got. Enjoy them all.

Thanks newbie_in_nj for sharing your experience. It often seems difficult to know what will or will not grow in different levels of shade.So many plants are listed as being for full sun or part shade, it's hard to know whether they really will or won't do ok in part shade. I have many part shade spots in my garden where I've stuck to plants more closely identified with shade. But I think I'll treat this as an experiment. I had understood that in higher numbered zones delphiniums should be grown in part shade but I guess that's really hot places. Maybe next year will be super sunny and that might help us along up north. It would be nice to know what type of delphinium it is but I suspect the picture quality may not be good enough even if someone can access the link.

Bluestone says full sun to mostly sunny, z3 to z8. That's probably pretty accurate if you want them to grow straight and bloom well or at all. Their catalog is really handy with its little charts for light requirements or you can check their website.

OTOH Foxgloves, depending on variety would have been a better choice, says mostly sunny to mostly shady.

I started some delphiniums from seed and planted them where they should get enough sun, don't know if they will survive their first winter though.

The tags always say full sun. HOWEVER...I live in Missouri, and although we are zone 5, our summers are hot as Hades and very humid. Conditions that delphiniums do not thrive in. I planted mine in a location that only got 2 hours of sun, and they thrived. They probably would have croaked in full sun. Delphiniums prefer cooler conditions. Considering you are zone 6, I believe they'd do fine in a part sun location for you.

Deanna

I will keep the suggestion of foxgloves in mind for future reference. That certainly seems like an attractive substitute. Did not know there were some varieties that liked part-shade. Also the experience from Missouri is interesting with only 2 hours of sun. I'm new at this but I get the impression the zones tell you about the coldest it gets in winter, yet I believe Missouri is more south so the sun could be more intense so wondering if that might be how you get away with 2 hours of sun. In any event I'll give it a try here. I would believe that spot gets quite a bit more than 2 hours sun (I hope.) Again I'm not really expecting it to look like prize delphiniums but some tallish flowers in summer would be nice.

actuary~You're learning two of the most valuable gardening lessons. One is to know your own yard, which you can only really learn by doing, and so you've made progress there. The other is to look at the form first ("tallish flowers") and go from there, matching site conditions to available plant material. It wouldn't matter what you picked, as look as it satisfied your criteria. It is my experience that when planting under a spruce, tree root competition is the limiting factor.

That's right, you just have to try and know your yard. All my lilies lean, some more than others. They have to have full sun or the huge ones might lean of their own weight anyway. I stake some.

The delphinium variety I planted doesn't get so tall, says it doesn't need staking. We'll see, but you could easily stake yours to see if they will grow straighter if they bloom.

Delphs have such dazzling blues and purples, no foxgloves like that. They are perennials but can be short lasting. Foxgloves are biennials, and you may get lucky and have some self seed to keep going. But there is only one I know of that is a true perennial, a yellow, and it might need full sun.

I didn't get many plants from my foxgloves, but what I did, were really nice. I had to stake one, not because of sun, but a storm. Some aren't in much sun, and it's taking them to the third year to bloom rather than the usual second year. They tend to be almost evergreen, were too small, then they have gotten much bigger, so I'm looking for them to bloom. Candy Mountain is a real showstopper. All I have going now are some white ones, and a couple more CM's may have self seeded. One is nice an big and looks like it seeded over the old one or will bloom again next year.