My grow rampant from re-seeding on their own and are about 2-4 feet tall. Perhaps they should be in the ground rather than confined in containers.

Larkspur does not do well via WSing. I've had some for years. My mother bought a packet of seeds at Monticello and scattered them in her garden. They reseeded at will and the 3rd year I dug some seedlings in very early spring. Enough survived to reseed in my garden. Over the years theyÂve claimed many sections of the yard.

But, the weird part is that when I sprinkle them in my milk jugs, I get nothing. TheyÂll pop up in OTHER jugs but not the one with their name on it. I donÂt think they like to be confined. Definitely free spirits!

They WS realy well for me, but do so much better re-seeding on their own. Free them!

I've only ever grown larkspur this last spring. I sowed them in the flowerbed in November and they came up and dealt with all the freezes and unpleasantness after that. They grew to about 3 feet tall and bloomed like crazy!

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I gathered seeds - enough to sow our entire county FULL. And I'm sure they scattered around on their own. I'm planning a much wider swath next spring (woo hoo!) behind the Lady in Red hydrangeas. THAT should be yummy!

These really do seem to be pretty easy to grow and hardy as all get out. I can't imagine why you would be having problems unless the soil (or medium) you are seeding in has too little nutrition for them. I had that problem with some of the things I sowed. If I left them in the WS containers too long they got really sickly.

Larkspur WS really well for me too, they reseed really well also. Georgie, get your seedings into the ground ASAP so they can begin growing; they're stunted from being in the cup.

I wish I knew this earlier. I just planted the seedlings. Is it too late for this summer? Will it reseed for the next season?

I've got short, disappointing Larkspur as well, and they have been out of their WS containers and in the beds for over a month. They are about 12' tall and seem to be finally forming tiny flower buds, but there is no way they are going to give me the tall, full effect I'd planned!

Vera mentioned in another thread that she direct sows seed into the beds in the fall. I am going to try that next time. I am also going to try one more WS container next year, vowing to get the seedlings in the ground the MINUTE they have two set of leaves. I want this plant! It is the one that eludes me - -been trying for years.

I've had the best luck from just re-seeding. I did wintersow them last year and was able to plant out about 6 plants. Today from self-sown fall and spring seedlings I'd say I have about 20+ plants ...that is AFTER thinning them out! Before thinning it was in the neighborhood of a gazillion LOL! Most of these are in the 4 to 4.5 foot range

Vera

nan - if I am not mistaken, there are two varieties of larkspurs short and tall ones - I have both and sometimes, depending on where they reseed, I like the shorter ones better - kind of tucked inbetween perennials.

Carrie

Thanks for trying to console me Carrie... but these were suppose to the the giant ones! So I, of course, planted them towards the back, right in front of the the "big boys" - Joe pye, tall hollyhock, etc. And they look silly so short. But they have not bloomed yet, maybe I will forgive them when they bloom (smile)

Nancy

The best ones I have are from seed that fell off last years flowers, sprouted in the fall, overwintered, & then took off like crazy in April/May. They are 4-5 feet tall. Yesterday a gold finch was balancing on the tip of one!
Maggie

Mine are also really tiny--maybe 4" or so. I WS them around MArch 1 and planted them out in 1-2" hunks around April 15. Anyone have a similar experience?

My larkspur has been really disappointing this year. Last year it was HUGE- gorgeous and tall. I think maybe it was the wierd spring we had this year- unusually cold temperatures in March and April. I definitely would go for direct sowing though. I have had no luck planting it in containers then trying to transplant it.

This is very interesting. All I wanted this year was electric blue Larkspur and poppies. I have the poppies, but the Larkspur jugs were all empty.

Lime

This was a very strange year for larkspur. Mine self seed abundantly here, so I rarely WS them.

This year mine grew and somewhat flowered, but all of our rain rotted them and I got zero seed. Same thing with the poppies, I lost every one to rot after they bloomed.

I'm noticing a lack of seed production on other plants. I'm wondering if all the rain is keeping things from being pollinated.

I never thought I'd see a year without larkspur seed. :(

Lisa

I WS'd lots of Larkspur Gentian Blue, and got zero germination. I don't know if the seeds were bad or if it was user error, lol. I still have some seed left. Maybe I'll direct sow it this fall and see what happens.

Lisa, email me and I can send you plenty. Mine self-sowed all over the place and are one of the few things that have survived our cold snap turned drought.

I have tall blue, purple, pink, white, and white with blue rims. I don't keep track of which are which, so my blend is a mystery blend. I have a bunch of cute shorties too.

Just say the word and they are yours.

Bakemom, I emailed you, but I suspect most of my mail from GW gets lost in the cosmos, so if you don't get one from me, the answer is YES!

Thanks,
Lisa

I did not get it. In fact, I have had very little AOL mail in the least several weeks. I wondered if my spam filter was set too high, but I don't think that's it.

Poot. Let me know if you get your mail back as undeliverable. In the meantime, send me your addy to: kcmccoyesq@aol.com. I expect my first crop of seeds in the next several weeks. The pods are full and ready to dry.

These are good larks and make quite a stunning show. BTW, my daughter is visiting her dad in OKC, so my eye is half on the prairie.

Update, I transferred about six seedlings and one took off. I am in zone 6 and right now the one that took off is about three inches tall. Will this grow to where should be to reseed by the end of summer?

Any advice on how to keep this plant going and how to reseed (other than letting it reseed itself) would be appreciated.

Georgie: Were your larkspur wintersown or started indoors?

Last year I wintersowed them (2 kinds) with great results. Some of the earl gray reseeded, the volunteers are pretty but shorter this year.

The gentian blue was smaller and bloomed later, around August. Left in the ground they overwintered for me and came back on the same roots (8 of them), even though T&M lists them as an annual.

This picture was taken June 7 of this year, second year plants. By July they were much bigger. The others came back too, but are smaller. Those wintersown this year are still only about 5 inches tall, but we have had extreme heat and drought.

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Karen

They were started from seed indoors in a greenhouse (I take a gardening class).

Georgie: Maybe you should try wintersowing! Have you ever done this? The FAQ's are a good place to start to gather information, and people here will be happy to answer your questions. Also see the gallery.

This is a very friendly forum and we love our wintersowing. We love new members.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Wintersowing FAQs