OMgosh, Marlene...you found GOLD! Well, rusty gold!!! My DH & I would LOVE that place!!! That huge 'grate' thing in the 1st & 5th pic would make an AWESOME table top! We build some of those out of old barnwood...& sometimes paint the wood legs or leave natural...anyway, you found a honey!!! Love everything you got & your fence looks great! Love old equipmt! TFS! Jeanne S.

Hi Linaria, some of them have been sitting for more than 10 years in the same place without division or anything, still going strong. I have divided some, but in my experience it takes a long time for them to recover after being divided. I divided some which were attacked by slugs(or other monsters) in winter , and the middle of the crown/main roots were hollow, so I was forced to resque the surviving shoots. I have a very sandy soil, the worst rubbish imaginable, it is like water repelling or something. But some delphinum growers recommend mineral soils for them. I live in a "cold pocket" in Denmark Zone 7, the coastal areas are zone 8. But the nature of our winters here makes it impossible for me to grow plants from USA which are hardy from Zone 6 and above. This year was very dry, the first rain in July fell on the 31st(one day more and it would be the whole July without a drop of rain) with several heat waves. But only 1 plant got mildewed. The reputation of Delphiniums is very unfair and was caused by Pacific strains, which deteriorated in the course of time, eventually becoming biennials. The clones available on the market in Germany are propagated by cuttings taken in the early spring. I can see you're from Switzerland . There is a nursery in Austria , Sarastro Stauden, near the Swiss border. They have rather good selection of plants at the moment. You have also Staudengartnerei Gaissmayer in Germany http://www.pflanzenversand-gaissmayer.de/shop.php?sid=910100cfa9fb6f9b8ba73be6d3fd316d&mode=botanik_index&letter=D and Stauden Stade in Germany. You can also check von Zeppelin in Germany and Vasteplant in Belgium. The named clones I personally grow and can recommend are: Lanzentrager, Ouverture, Merlin, Sonnenwind, Jubelruf, Tempelgong, Waldenburg and Augenweide- all stormproof and long-lived. I also grew: Morgentau(died in winter), the flowers were too big on this one, too much resistance to wind. I disposed of Finsteraarhorn- big clumps are too floppy. Vierzehnheiligen is standing up nicely while young, old clumps are too tall and need staking. Elmfreude - beautiful but not standing well, I give it one more year to see if it improves. Of Bellandonna Hybrids I have been growing Picollo (very good) for more than 5 years and Volkerfrieden. Volkerfrieden is a very old clone which is described as "losing its vigor" but it is still acceptable here with me. Vasteplant in Belgium has a Delphi series, shorter and sturdy, the colours are matte on these ones. http://www.vasteplant.be/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=cat None of Magic Fountains and Pacific series plants heard the notion "longevity" here. Of Millenium double series: they all need staking no matter what the labels say. The florets are extremely heavy and flop even without rain and wind. I also tried Darwin's Blue Indulgence twice- died both times. All the red and coral ones died, never saw a single flower on them. This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Sun, Sep 1, 13 at 11:48

Ok, I want to make one thing very clear, and I hope I don't get booted from GW for doing this, but the person who is responsible for the current condition of our RR is lilyroseviolet. Oh my gosh Skohler (Susie), I can't imagine anyone ever thinking you could do something like this! I really, really enjoy being a part of gardenweb. I have met some wonderful people here (met my best friend here!)I have learned (sp?) so much from some really versesd gardeners. I have received some beautiful plants that I didn't even know existed. I have just been opened up to a whole new world here. I honestly would be very, very heartbroken if I wasn't allowed to be apart of this place. I hope lilyroseviolet doesn't become vindictive, and get me kicked. I've not even seen what was in the box yet, but from the description of everything, it was basically junk. In my opinion, that is ust not acceptable. If someone doesn't have much to put in, then just put in what you can, and pass it on. I have been bashed, and called a dime stare and dollar store junkie, that I go on dime store binges. I have been accused of promoting the way society is becusse I shop at department stores. She speaks of my mentallity because some things in the box was make in China. It just went on and on. Then she procedes to bash me on another thread, after she has told me to refrain from contacting her ever again!!! THis IS NOT my way of getting back at her. I am simply letting all of you know what happened to your things in this robin...the truth. Honestly, I have no intentions of "getting back" at her. I have not contacted her since she told me not to. I don't plan to. I am just disappointed and hurt. But, I will get over it, smiles. It's not a life threatening situation, LoL. Susie, I am so sorry that you thought that I was insinuating that it was you. Tina

It adds to the fun if you keep a list of the trinkets you put in the bottle, then write a little poem about each one. That way the recipient can try to find each object. When I was making them, I discovered (as mentioned above) that some objects were too heavy and never surfaced. So befor you seal your bottle, give it a try and be sure each trinket comes to the top at some time. One thing I tried to add to each one was the person's name. I glued alphabet beads together to spell the name. You can find lots of little plastic objects at a dollar store. Just be sure they are small enough to fit in the neck of the bottle.