Consolida regalis 'Fancy Purple Picotee'
larkspur
Delivery options
- Seed Packets (only) £2.95
- Position: Full sun
- Soil: Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: Average
- Flowering period: June to September
- Hardiness: Hardy annual
An elegant and eye-catching well-branched hardy annual, with ferny, palmate mid-green leaves, and spikes of pale purple blooms edged with a darker purple. 'Fancy Purple Picotee' is a beautiful and easy to grow larkspur for the border, providing colour throughout the summer as well as wonderful flowers for cutting which last a long time in water.
Larkspur can benefit from a period of cold period to sowing - pop the packet into a fridge for a week before sowing onto the surface of moist, well-drained seed compost from February to June, or September to October under glass. Sow in small pots or seed trays and keep at a temperature of around 10-15°C. Germination should occur in 2-4 weeks. Transplant seedlings into a cell tray and grow on into smaller pots, hardening off and planting out when the risk of frost has passed. Larkspur can be directly sown into a well-prepared bed from late April.
Larkspur prefers a fertile, alkaline to neutral, well-drained soil in full sun. Choose a sheltered spot and stake well after planting. Apply a liquid feed every 2 weeks in the growing season. For best flower spikes thin shoots when 8cm (3in) tall to leave a minimum of 2-3 shoots. Deadhead by cutting spent flower spikes back to small flowering side shoots as this will encourage further blooms.